from alibi (that is : elsewhere)
8
nicotine, rain, curry-- you see, all yellow things
one expects to pine for. so watched a Belfast
movie that began sadly & ended sadly-- neither
more sadly nor less sadly. rather, exact. & started
a letter : since I left your city.
we force the clock contrary to its hour :
face east, the weather being clear,
watch for birds, nothing from whence they
came & in what sort they wag their wings, &c.
having given my mouth over to your inflections, that glamour
descends from grammar; having masterfully passed over nine
burning ploughshares, you propose to address me infanta;
morning, like a dog in a manger.
9
placebo -- I allow
it's fatal to kill swallows.
a weather, of another kind I say :
cup of tea, cup of tea, cup of tea ?
he smites me. smitten, again I am
all the words I wear
indicating that this is so only
moreso. smitten--
& taken to wearing more metals
(look this up, what is augured there)
& spent the morning entire
explaining absinthe & semi-colons.
an effort to be sensible, to alter the material of air with mere
pronunciation.
10
this is the miraculousness of caulk. the difference between a physic & physics. unstable quantitativeness. a gin & tonic with lime & quinine- I've seen you play the saint with your bitten fingernails, your sermon-crooked mouth, your iodized preservative. dear, since I left your city I bruise easily & sleep too much. butterfly bushes & the flutter cross the Atlantic, your lessons in chaos. such a day may require six hours of wittiness, forgoing responsibility for long walks, a comedy of manners, or a commentary on social errors. I am tidy & grateful & as earnest as all the backyards in Philadelphia.
made a sheep from wax, a few parallel lines there scratched. happy birthday, Judas Iscariot.
11
the legal definition of obligation--
heir to your father's enemies.
the edge of a cataract-- perhaps I am
curious for this place.
elsewhere is still
somewhere-- but perhaps not
where the compass is-- your
compass has fallen to earth & so.
a bird killed in the yard-- feathers (white,
unusual) hither & thither.
evidence of a struggle. questions of proof & ethics.
12
laziness gave us ampersand & I am happier for it.
were we to wake very early to observe
staccato in the music of spheres or a prowler.
were we to discover therein the lack-- all
the indignity, advances, & indifference one
must muster. you start
the day at odd angles & predestination
selects the coffeemugs. more spontaneous & less
superstitious, please. if not lazy, then a slur-- in several
senses. a great unending existential schwa.
13
she used to find beautiful its angle in air.
she used to find beautiful
the juxtaposition of natural & man-made
things in air. she used to envy
its underbelly & imagined
destinations over the expressway. certainly
there's an accurate phrase for this in a language
I don't speak well. I'm prepared to forfeit
my self-righteousness in escrow at this time.
& (something) in the air-- (something) uttered
or not, renunciation even.
nicotine, rain, curry-- you see, all yellow things
one expects to pine for. so watched a Belfast
movie that began sadly & ended sadly-- neither
more sadly nor less sadly. rather, exact. & started
a letter : since I left your city.
we force the clock contrary to its hour :
face east, the weather being clear,
watch for birds, nothing from whence they
came & in what sort they wag their wings, &c.
having given my mouth over to your inflections, that glamour
descends from grammar; having masterfully passed over nine
burning ploughshares, you propose to address me infanta;
morning, like a dog in a manger.
9
placebo -- I allow
it's fatal to kill swallows.
a weather, of another kind I say :
cup of tea, cup of tea, cup of tea ?
he smites me. smitten, again I am
all the words I wear
indicating that this is so only
moreso. smitten--
& taken to wearing more metals
(look this up, what is augured there)
& spent the morning entire
explaining absinthe & semi-colons.
an effort to be sensible, to alter the material of air with mere
pronunciation.
10
this is the miraculousness of caulk. the difference between a physic & physics. unstable quantitativeness. a gin & tonic with lime & quinine- I've seen you play the saint with your bitten fingernails, your sermon-crooked mouth, your iodized preservative. dear, since I left your city I bruise easily & sleep too much. butterfly bushes & the flutter cross the Atlantic, your lessons in chaos. such a day may require six hours of wittiness, forgoing responsibility for long walks, a comedy of manners, or a commentary on social errors. I am tidy & grateful & as earnest as all the backyards in Philadelphia.
made a sheep from wax, a few parallel lines there scratched. happy birthday, Judas Iscariot.
11
the legal definition of obligation--
heir to your father's enemies.
the edge of a cataract-- perhaps I am
curious for this place.
elsewhere is still
somewhere-- but perhaps not
where the compass is-- your
compass has fallen to earth & so.
a bird killed in the yard-- feathers (white,
unusual) hither & thither.
evidence of a struggle. questions of proof & ethics.
12
laziness gave us ampersand & I am happier for it.
were we to wake very early to observe
staccato in the music of spheres or a prowler.
were we to discover therein the lack-- all
the indignity, advances, & indifference one
must muster. you start
the day at odd angles & predestination
selects the coffeemugs. more spontaneous & less
superstitious, please. if not lazy, then a slur-- in several
senses. a great unending existential schwa.
13
she used to find beautiful its angle in air.
she used to find beautiful
the juxtaposition of natural & man-made
things in air. she used to envy
its underbelly & imagined
destinations over the expressway. certainly
there's an accurate phrase for this in a language
I don't speak well. I'm prepared to forfeit
my self-righteousness in escrow at this time.
& (something) in the air-- (something) uttered
or not, renunciation even.