i was in the waiting room
of the dentists office
in heaven
there were other people there
pope alexander vi was there,
or maybe it was pope innocent iii or mark antony
billy graham was there
or maybe it was john dillinger or woodrow wilson
and blackbeard the pirate
or maybe it was genghis khan or david hume
charles darwin was there
or maybe erasmus darwin or lord palmerston
and florence nightingale
or maybe it was margaret mead or phyllis schlafly
there are a lot of people in heaven
it can be hard to tell them apart
anyway all these people
many of whom
had so much to say for themselves
on earth
had nothing to say
in the dentists office in heaven
and we all sat there silently
staring at our feet
or at the magazines on the table
finally
simone de beauvoir
or maybe madame chiang kai-shel
handed me the august 1937 issue of the national geographic
and asked
would you like to look at the august 1937 issue of the national geographic?
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