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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With Respect to the Whale Oh, man – foul carnivore! Gorging beyond all need for sustenance, Gorging beyond even your body’s bounds! And is this a fixation on your prey, A lust for prey-communion? Willing your own, final annihilation By turning into quarry That great, that fine, that more than any beast; Sea-mammal – in its form a synthesis of […]
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Space Capsule Volunteer The final pull of severance will magnify you The downward controls make you equal to the general gravitation You are higher than the air, and so you leave, You are bigger than the air, and so you breathe Caught in a feeling circle Knowing measurements for what they are Your particles arrested Your museum […]
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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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Connections Sheen caps ground rails Soaking harsh sleepers To rattle mud-flounced trains. Drizzle dusts, Grinding against itself, Sparking the tracks’ sheen With casual exasperation; Blinding the gravel Kicking in panic Against the basalt of its being. The lifeline Brine polishes ground cliffs, Moss-padded in their cavities, The waves of muscle buffet, Abrade the penciled rocks, Cowl […]
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Scorpion I touched a scorpion; it struck. It was my fault; I had been warned – But for one split second Its beauty-fascination wrenched me From reason’s ice. I don’t think anyone could find a scorpion ugly, They shine too. Writhing and smarting from the sting I lashed out, struck on something soft I could not see. […]
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Panic A search for some trivial object in the midst of disordered furniture Seized upon just at that moment, giving birth to consternation Repulsion from travelling delayed by this selection; Travelling light, splitting energy-wholes into petty onenesses – At one with invisibility Use the fuel of panic to build up heat in an overcrowded room Breath […]
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Crossword Adventurer Isn’t it great! The chessboard gone wonky, Thrust into eddies of new clusters – All-dimensional vistas. Isn’t it great to peel and pave the words, To lick their sounds, To hone the code letters with your pencil sharpener. Happy jump from ‘right’ to ‘dream’ – City breath pause, Gurgling word-chain. Torture, hiatus of connection; Now predator […]
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Don’t Touch! “Don’t touch!” they cried; They really meant no harm, Had not intended To make a shaking, Jibbering apoplectic With their nagging. “Don’t touch!”, for their interior décor Indeed was fragile and expensive – Themselves and furniture alike To them untouchable, those self-pariahs. There are no easy stages; Somebody’s lost a memory, Somebody’s taking shocks; The papers […]
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Action Paint Stripper He did it: Bared around as a torn poster – Slashed in irrigation, blatant in life. Squeezing out worms, slugs And snakes ablaze; All burst to flood Then blended underlay – A laminated rainbow. His luminescence crossed exposure’s edge; Flesh writhed erogenous, Prime canvas scrubbed. Paint frames contorted To every edge and corner, […]
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