FREE-VERSE PANTOUM WITH GARBANZOS AND PARROT
            Nelson Miller
                c. June 2000
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  Shimmering faint gold,
  emptied skins of garbanzos
  flung into a heap
  litter the white linoleum floor.

  Emptied skins of garbanzos
  parrot-peeled
  litter the white linoleum floor,
  rich thin surfaces tossed aside.

  Parrot-peeled
  as she searches for deeper truth,
  rich thin surfaces tossed aside,
  slippery beauty unregarded.

  As she searches for deeper truth,
  I walk in to learn how,
  slippery beauty unregarded;
  foot-flailing, I fall.

  I walk in to learn how;
  I'm a sort of truthseeker, too;
  foot-flailing, I fall,
  victim of truth's deceitful surfaces.

  I'm a sort of truthseeker, too,
  flung into a heap,
  victim of truth's deceitful surfaces,
  shimmering faint gold.


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