This REFUSAL poem was originally accepted elsewhere but was withdrawn by the author in protest.
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Say something about wake and dream. The tranquil side of happiness where one of us promised the other we’d be. Vermeer’s earring reminds you of Leonardo’s ermine. Leonardo’s ermine reminds me of Vermeer’s earring. Two silky-ermine-studded ears. If you are a pet or horse owner, please press 1. You touched something that was moving, and now everything is watermarked. Every sheet of paper, every PDF, every page. The guinea pig, a stethoscope, the bass. Would you rather ride a horse or a donkey. The horse is smaller than the donkey, but I won’t tell you how big the donkey is. Both eat leaves; one eats only dead ones, the other only green. I won’t say which which. The horse’s name is Donkey. The donkey’s name is Horse. Wait a minute. . . We were leading a horse to water.
