by James Brook
Author's Links
1.
Nowhere . . . I invent the no-words . . . arise the empty syllables . . .
astound dumb ears as I pry open the doors-my teeth . . .
(blood) bloodied thigh: euclidean perspectives dissect the air . . .
a cleavage seemed any signal that could mean
her dark sheets of hair . . . (some
process of understanding-some process
of the liquid of her lips, the fluids . . .
lazy . . . certain) spine glow red
containing the spell of the whispers of brutality.
tongue flicked yellow sparks against the gloom
. . . coiled & uncoiled . . .
flicked blue sparks (against the, etc.)
bits of his brother clung to his shoulders.
silence was impenetrable; paid me no attention
(I coughed) silence
impenetrable, glaring so that
her eyes could not be met-all eyes
her head's corolla of retina
breasts navel knuckles of hands & feet
exotic woods of flesh (alone) shivered
to no avail or a new start (could we make
a new start) I'll come back to this
2.
A beast in the presence of fire
a beast beneath stars
suns of heat & derision
the jaws stretched to include
distance & histories
the penumbra of magic
eats into crystal cities
into the machinery of our sleeping
3.
the lantern she there
with the lantern of insomnia
the lantern of wounds
the lantern of barren agitation
of laughter barging in on stilts
of the leaky wrists of suicides
clogged on nightmare
of every child cradled by chaos
who engineers rituals of violence
over the machines of love
like the ruthless eyes of coffin makers
their speech clatters
acid clouds before the omens of their mouths
the corrosive moonlight flung
the curse of the goodmen
into the theater of burnings
(the length of the tense hours-
the skins of fear-the destruction of mirrors-
the loss of a baby-
& the lantern of dust-)
she there with the lantern
of the weapons of love
4.
flag enough for the nightmare meadow
you bleached gray as
ghost where ghost where
you bleached gray as
in black & white impenetrable
your shape once tugged
your shape once tugged
in black & white impenetrable
photo album stills
dangerously of dangerously of
slowed b movie
my octopus dreams
my octopus dreams slowed b
movie & nightmare meadow
& nightmare meadow
between the deserts of stars
between breasts grown to displeasure
between father & mother
and son & daughter
between a trading routine
fat zero desire in systematic decay
a horizon illuminated by
the breath of electricity
an expanse of bone & bones overlaid with blue ice
there is no one can call me back
on the stage encircled by the orbits of dreams
busted furniture we've saved for possible use
5.
shall I remind you? shall I remind you
we plugged up the sewers
so our parents would not dare us
shall I remind you
we ate dirt and grass
to please our sins
shall I remind you
we lay down when the sun rose
shall I remind you
we tortured rabbits until you were pregnant
we crept off to play in our secrets
as something plodded by
digesting whole hillsides of our separate natures
those days so quickly absorbed us
shall I remind you to what murder
we pledged our weapons?
6.
in the haze we were ashes
our eyes were ashes
we slept in rivers
wrapped in reeds & mud
though we marched like a display of signals
the roses stopped at sunrise
& only the artifacts of misery
remained on the tables of inheritance
we surrendered to the butcher
with his knowledge of blades
to the idiot appearance of rain
we surrendered
mercy tried pulling us upward at the neck
as we made love against the breaking glass
as we made love against the doors of grasses
but the dreams return
and the red birds of your own phrasing descend
smooth out the pillows
what do you wonder
the winter's puddles boxed in
with vague foul odors of childhoods of pain
descend smooth out the pillows
what do you wonder the clocks
the clocks descend on red wings
do not forget your cap and bells
do not forget the sad ones who gave you
missions & trivial errands
tomorrow's red wings skewer beasts
above the static of clowns
what do you wonder
what do you wonder
I listen to my own sounds
torrents of clocks drop through shafts
crusty with abysmal lights
we are left thoughtless by the insect ticking
7.
We came to proscribe their future
& round fire & beached telephones
& bare skulls of cognition in conjugal bliss
& the rare fog of hands
we surmounted the reef of mouths
we decided on the meat of the forgiven
only last week
spoke in shudders
examining the archives for a story
that would do & a delight that would kill
witnesses of losers
pinioned across the strain of numbers
witness to the voice that commanded gasoline
into something more than threat
we an infinite capacity ditch in charred fields
overlooked by splintered windowpanes
nothing
we mended a fever with paroxysms of mirrors
8.
NAME: INDICTMENT
MY AGE IS LIGHTNING
MY ELECTRIC HUNGER WAGES DREAMS
AGAINST THE CULTS OF BLAME
I SCREAM & SHAKE & SHATTER (. . .
LILIES ALTAR BOY OK?
SUCKS UNCLE PART OF BARGAIN OK?
BREATHE VENOM AIR IT'S IN THE BUDGET
YOU'RE IN THE MONEY STOP
WHEN MOTHER RAISES HER DEATH'S HEAD
GODS TREMBLE PISS BLESSINGS STOP
THE P.S. WANNA DIE AMBULANCE
WAS ASKED TO SEND THE BULLET
ON ITS WAY STOP WITHOUT END
9. The Attendant Positions of Doubt
Aimless upon the turret of the sphinx
she left the plain of pale houses behind
the animal creeps forward haven't you noticed
cat's bell
twisting in the glaze of moonlight
the phantom parade glistens
cargo handlers merge into the landscape
long trucks
metallic sounds rearrange the buzzards' spirals
forever zero mouths mimic chaos
in the impenetrable white house
sharp edges
the murderer's face presses to the glass
the flesh cop lurks and
disease roughens their cheeks
estate sale
candles are crushed in the slap of tides
and wrapped in magnetism and brooding
pilgrims survey the inquisitors' ranks
holy lullaby
your veins pump disasters
into the circuits of my vision
languorous women on the frontier
astonished eyebrows
their hair is radial on desire replicas
sunsets glint in gone red eyes
the priests are attacked by moonlight
that deviant
10.
I pursued her through streets through rooms
the tyranny of her gull smile
wove into the fabric of my dreams
something flawless
inaccessible
me flopping haggard memories
controlled by random gossips
crippled not to be forgiven
I've impregnated the neighborhood's curious daughters
now they climb trees gaze at horizons
& long to fly from their spastic outrages
moon sets
all through the gaps between stars
women gnash their teeth
hounds pass by
teeth eyes breasts mouths dreams
mirrors roll out to sea
December 1970-January 1971
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