The New Graffiti

Simply looking isn’t the next big thing;
the search must be purposeful,
and the destination must be undocumented.
Of course, documenting the process is a must.
How else would you show your children
that you were the first to set foot
on that particular plot of land,
the first to pose in that particular way
in front of the photo booth?
I invent an ice cream flavor,
only to find the freezer is full of it.
You know this feeling—the boat is sailing away,
you’re standing there, stupid, muttering,
while gulls and flies and statues mock you.
We lash our heads together daily,
and still we lack the collective juice
to keep the clock from stopping.
It’s not so much about locating a lost city
as proving your own existence.
They’re starting to paint bathroom stalls black
to make it tougher to say we were here.