A Lithuanian Proverb (sneak peek)

A Lithuanian Proverb

When your drop a glass of wine in Lithuania
or bump a porcelain knickknack, shattering it,

they say Kamatka lapotcha, coka pooya schmoo.

No.

I don’t remember the actual phrase at all,

but the meaning is to the effect that the earth—

reality—shifted around you, and you didn’t

notice

so naturally, you didn’t keep up; and it’s not

wholly your fault that the teapot or peanut dish

didn’t align with you and only exists in shards

now.

You and the world knock like misaligned gears.

The machine will right itself somehow—or

explode, destroying everything and leaving

nothing—

Kidding! Things hardly ever fly hysterically apart

that way. You might fall against an aquarium,

killing ten red fish, then slip on one and bang

noggins

with the magistrate you were trying to petition.

A different saying applies in that case to the effect

that earth has shaken you like a sled dog shakes

knots

into its harness, which makes it chafe, raising

a row of red sores under her haunch; and you

have to know she mustn’t run with tackle but

note

her slow healing and let her rest, or else

she could lose a leg. Now, if for reasons

of your own—whatever—you really need to

know

the truth, I made up the parts about the dog,
the aquarium and even knowing anything
about Lithuania, land of my ancestors—but

not

the part about how earth can shake you off.

I know I need this rest and that this
here invention salves a string of sore

notches.