Light green
Intricacy,
Seemingly out of nowhere

Arriving
Almost weightless
To land on

My wrist,
This is not
The best time

For us to meet.
Apparently my friend
Does not appreciate

Your presence;
Seconds after
You come

I try to introduce
You two, but he
Is not impressed

And seems a bit
Frightened. 
Your structure,

That of a
Cootie-catcher
From childhood,

Fails to touch him
Although he teaches
Mathematics back home.

Insect, perhaps
A second try
After Allen returns to America?

I could
Meet you on
This Rue de Lyon spot

Say, Mardi at quatorze heures?
I would
Look at you then

At least as long
As at all the Renoirs
In the Musée d'Orsay,

Captivated by that
Which now I try
To shrug away to please my friend.

Six times I lean
To blow you gone, then
Fiercely shake you off,

Exotic
Divinity
Remarkable

As the hoopoe
(Crested bird, as though
Toy carved of balsa)

Which once materialized for me
On the railing
Of an Indian Ocean steamer:

Another
Visiting professor
Of the ineffable.

Everything, the cootie catcher, the disdainful mathematician, the date with an insect on the Rue de Lyon, the hoopoe, it all charmed me.

I like the descriptions, the tone, and especially the last stz which sums it up nicely.

Thanks Lavonne (and Rick) for your encouragement.  I have always liked this poem but was not sure if others did.  As a result of your specific comments, Lavonne, I submitted it out to a mag. 

Let me know the outcome!

Johnathon~ Wonderful! I adore this clever poem! I must go read it again!
take care~dale

Great this, Jonathan. My one thought is that the convention of capitalizing all the first letters is an impediment in short line poems in this tone. I found my reading interrupted by having to check the punctuation, and this was an irritation, and a distraction in a poem that otherwise flows. I don't think that formality works for a piece in such a conversational and relaxed style.

Cheers

milner

Milner, thanks for your posting; I will think about it, definitely.  Probably because of  my age, I find it hard to like poems whose first lines are not capitalized.  It is just a formal convention I am very used to.  It is a bit the way Robert Frost said that for him free verse was like playing tennis with no net.  There is a lack of tension, for  me, when only sentences are capitalized.  In this poem, which I think needs to be read slowly, to omit the capitalization would make the poem flow too smoothly.  I have never thought a poem should necessarily flow.  Or flow smoothly.  Some flows should be jerky, some rough, some smooth, some several different kinds of flow in one poem.  But I can see where the capital letters might annoy younger readers. 

Agree with ypur personal preferences, obviously, Jonathan, though not so sure as to what age has to do with it. I'm some seven years older, yet hold that the style and form is servant to the poem, not the master. I guess I'm just a maverick in this, as I notice most poets stick mostly to one style, once they're established. Thanks though, as you've made me consider a couple of mine where capitalization might be better. In that respect, I'll stick to my vagrant ways, and try always look for new (and old) paths. So I'll agree that you're justified in staying where you're comfortable, and sticking to your style, though not on the grounds of your age.

Cheers

milner