the earless man in a parking lot in maine i saw a man with no ear just a thinning of the hair behind there where the sideburn would be maybe one or two nubs; hints at an ear, an ear to be little buds like a tadpole's first leg this i saw at the stop and save i knew a man who laid himself in parts in eggs, that is, he laid eggs a feat in and of itself and in each egg a part, a foot a hand, an eye, an elbow, a nose dozens of spare parts only the part that laid the eggs could not lay itself, he was always on the go he traveled about in cartons avoiding the tabloids i knew a man who cried like a cello it saddened his wife all that bowing and weeping it drove her mad with grief and in the end she divorced him it rained an orchestra for weeks why do i mention these three? what reason could there be? perhaps i'm thinking the eggman could spare an egg with an ear and the earless man could move in with the man who cried cellos but i reaching i'm all these three have in common really some say there is a reason for everything perhaps there is really perhaps it's a shitty reason, really why should a man be born without an ear? and who will ask the earless man? i can imagine why it might be fun and or advantageous to lay oneself in parts in eggs, though i haven't worked out how you'd put it all back together again (horses and men?) still fun and advantage are not reasons are they? a man who cried cellos makes no sense at all how can we speak of reason when there is no sense? i knew a man with neither sense nor reason you have probably known such men they collect string or railroad maps they need help using the toilet, feeding themselves they have ears but do not seem to hear they are broken in pieces like eggs they cry but no one understands the music augusta maine august 26, 1992