we
are ugly
but we have
the
tunes. … then
he called into
the
airshaft the
question hello? hello?
His
gaucheries were
dire and nimble
as
iron socks.
& begin quote;
, ( ) & quote; and ( )
, approach & quote; a waste and
, & quote; awful & quote;
, human life & quote; ( ) & quote;
, confidentially says & quote;
, gold is always
, thickest on the inside & quote;
, ( ) & quote; means & quote;
, part & end quote.
Again
my wowowo
is large and
cares
like a
stable horse out
of
a thunderbolt.
The letter A
is
a plow
(mare pulling into
mare)
horse plowing
sea / Maremma // was
A
where you
made and unmade
your
mind … first
hesitation when you
doubted
what you
thought you were
looking
for? … then
he called into
the
airshaft the
question hello? hello?
and
his neighbor’s
name which he
knew
then waited
and listened and
questioned
again now
checking his watch
now
staring into
the dark air
outside
the window
hearing the spray
of
the water
below and no
other
sound now
though he felt
himself
straining then
abruptly he rushed
out
to the
phone … deafened and
speeding
ghosts by
sound stone // of
many
birds in
the throat. Millions
of
sooty shearwaters
flying north along
the
coast a
long single low
line
above the
water as long
as
we can
see for as
long
as we
watch. Vast if
I
spoke another
language I’d break
into
it now.
The true condition
of
bone. River
rock, baby, fool,
grinning
green monster
duck/crocodile, blue
scallop
shell, bull,
snake, leaf, bunch
of
hair, red
path of travel,
Ukranian
bandura played
outside Centre Pompidou,
it’s
in all
the books – Psalms,
Solomon,
the ones
with all the
pictures
crossed out,
candles walking down
streets
at times
eclipsed by trees,
upon
this O
of red rising
out
of red,
pointing there – there –
there –
do you
see it, friend?
[Note: 2 modifications to yesterday’s process note: 1. Instead of the 2nd book on the shelf, I grabbed the last one. I will use the 2nd book next, the 2nd-to-last book after that, and work toward the middle. Why? So I can minimize the number of times I will use the same author twice in a row. 2) At least one bit in each section may NOT be hay(na)ku. Anyhow … This one is dedicated to Ginger Stickney.
Sources: Leonard Cohen, via Ernesto Priego, “Wax Poetics”, at Never Neutral, 24 Nov 08; Beverly Dahlen, “Sonnet 10”, as quoted in Tenney Nathanson, “On Bev Dahlen”, in On: Contemporary Practice (eds. Michael Cross, Thom Donovan & Kyle Schlesinger); Bill Berkson, “Stains of Stalin”, in Fugue State; Angela Genusa, “Three Overheard Conversations”, at Fiddling While Rome Burns, 18 Nov 08; Joseph Ceravolo, “Soul in Migration”, in The Green Lake Is Awake; Kathleen Fraser, “Norchia”, in il cuore : the heart; Piero Heliczer, “Wm Bird”, in a purchase in the white botanica; Joann Kyger, “Passing through the Garden”, in About Now; Eileen Myles, “Cigarette Girl”, in Sorry, Tree; J H Prynne, “Aristeas, in Seven Years”, in Poems; Michael Rothenberg, “XXVI Max Ernst” at Pompidou and “XXVIII Like You”, in The Paris Journals; Cole Swensen, “The Invention of the Night-watch”, “The Invention of Streetlights”, in Goest; Andrew Zawacki, “Viatica 13”, “Masquerade 9”, in Anabranch]