The Artwork of David Russell
Part II Let calcium lines be shaved of moss and other growth be centered, Re-score the patterns. All who change and slither shall live; those who clinch all roots shall perish. Wilful ignoring and retraction is a key to survival. In the circle, all is death; through the lines, life is pursued. But all life is angular, clinches segmentation. Knowledge […]
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Before the Horoscope Nine planets juggle me on cusps And boil flood-chemistry to speed me. Will blows from Geminian ash, Sinks through quicksilver. Out-sensed, earth and fire are lit; Or fears invert that gaunt imminence Thrust all into the gulf. Beyond sear fuller flames – Tempered, reserved, Approved as solid, then abhorred As dark absorption in one […]
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The Calendar The sun coughed, scattered itself for a split second into myriad droplets – so divided, poured itself into the central chasm, flattening it to glory, clinching the final resilience of the chasm’s rocks – that reject sediment, so newly refined. Its roughage thickened the barriers against itself. In the beginning of time was its end, finally clinched to […]
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Tangled Drawing the cross slices tramline nuggets, Sizing out torture’s cavity, Wrenching the hopeful – slashes, threads all. The anchor is split, tossed on a shroud, The elements burgeoning right. The chain is rusted, marking starfish, Shakes in a ticking melody. Calipers rented, mayhem dented, Cholesterol’s bulb fouls the maggots away; All pupae are gelled, numb triplets they […]
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Work out of Progress I suppose it must all go on indefinitely – Just when I thought it had all been played out, All become superfluous. I am at the stage of universal discarding; I suppose that many people see, through several decades, What I pushed aside in a matter of months. Discarding is basic to life: […]
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Earthquake What happened? There was a fault. What’s a fault? It’s when one piece of the earth juts above another. Why does that happen? Because the explosion down below Goes on forever. But was that fault anybody’s? It was the earth’s; it’s beyond us. The seething energy-city, ever greedy to accelerate. Did its makers long to sharpen that fault, […]
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Complacency You had the world eat from your hand And thought you had it made To fade into your fantasies. Nobody came to put you down, And so you never rose; You smiled and sang in blindness And your wine glass sweetly flattered you. Supremely bored, And worshipping the needs that passed you by You paused, to consult […]
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Earthquake What happened? There was a fault. What’s a fault? It’s when one piece of the earth juts above another. Why does that happen? Because the explosion down below Goes on forever. But was that fault anybody’s? It was the earth’s; it’s beyond us. The seething energy-city, ever greedy to accelerate. Did its makers long to sharpen that fault, […]
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Checkpoint Lurching, they bluster – ghouls into the chasm. Fierce lava, blowing, nullifies their fall And dissipates harsh gravity’s concussion, Forces a seething screen of phoenix cowardice, Leaping to swell Into a fresh, mendacious crust, Tripping and throttling the led Into a smear upon pure metamorphic beauty. The skeleton’s jaws yawn apart; A stranded mountaineer was frozen At his prime […]
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