Dara Wier
 

clapping

What to do in a room filling with clapping but begin to begin
Clapping, too?  I clap for you and you've clapped for me, we've
Clapped often and we've clapped long.  And we have bowed as
Well.  And sort of tipped an imaginary hat or two and presented
And been presented with civilian salutes. Clapping is something
Babies who can do little else do as soon as they're able to do it.  An
Audience becomes like one of those creatures who, for the sake
Of continuity, I suppose, is filled with individuals who've agreed to
Act as one for the sake of the object of its collective attention, to behave
As if the object of its purpose pre-supposed its constitution. To suppose
When an audience's clapping brings everyone to their feet,
To stand, once and for all, to stand, perhaps feeling united, after which
All wander off looking for a place to camp or agree to begin gathering
Supplies for what may be a long and perhaps bitter campaign.
 

clapping II

My love said, what is clapping?
I said well, it's something we seem to do a lot of.
You don't normally clap with your feet, do you?
Though I think I've seen an ape or two do this.
Though you do vote with your feet, don't you?
You use your hands if you have them.
And I pray that you do.  You use your elbows
To lift up your forearms. You use your forearms
To crank up your wrists.  Your palms have all of
Your history written on them and some say your
Future's inscribed in them, too.  All of this you're
Welcome to ignore while you clap. I like to think
Of us all banging like mad our legible lives as we slap
And slap our palms firmly and perhaps futilely otherwise.
 

clapping III

There are many kinds of clapping, many clapping styles.
We consumers of clapping are lucky in this.
The persistence of memory is bothering me.
Some one is the one who claps first while another one is the one who
Claps last.  That's the choreography and a playlist.
Something about clapping might be known were one to think for a while
About asparagus piss, no---it's pervasiveness, it's ability to guarantee
We're experiencing a clear sensation on an equal basis.
Cheap Repository Tracks will now and then get some claps on the back.
In a Secret Sequence of Almost Inaudible Sounds, I don't know,
Perhaps clapping abounds.  When calls for submission are broadcast
My first animal instinct is to vanish.  Second is to finish my fish
Sandwich.  We're standing in a church clapping in unison because
The music of the spirit so moves us.  We're appalled by applause.