PAUSE , PULSE
eric solibakke
go easy toward madness
arrive fresh and vigorous
arrive with reserves
like odysseus , sufficient to pull
the most recalcitrant bow
AGORA PRESS ONLINE
Oslo, Norway
third edition 1999
1968, 1987, 1999 © eric solibakke
contents
PAUSE , PULSE
On Poetry medieval looking typewriter , byzantine mechanism
behind bottle caps , umbrellas , discs
suspended , keyswith language like zinc'd smoke
from half a lifetime ago : the kid with the worst
reputation in the county , a special friend of mine
everyone talked about his idiot brother in the attici knew nothing : we were pals
had i remained a year longer
today we would be a team of casual criminals
on the west coastwith word-like phaiakian ships at the speed of thought
alkinoos and arete , the alphas of
an island where a man would like to live
with ship-like words at speeds of perceptionsounds with
the sharp angles of sculpture
some pop group playing la bamba
sound network
today's madness today
tv heads shooting
processed images , pasteurized
electricity , on electrijunk
the news of pop sound
battles reports from theaters
of controlled war
while 'movie' stars
go crazy
acting out public seduction fantasies
to amuse the republic of ugly fucklingssometimes i get it in my head
everything out there is just to find out about
a kind of museum in the present tense
LETTER FROM CRETE
apr 3 1967as for me : downright bad , BAD
(in case you didn't hear : i said BADad)
emmett just got a letter from barrister sayingthey hint about paying in august
they haven't enough money to pay their writers
at this time
get that ! no bread at all
the same letter is on its way to me right now
which blasts my schedule to hell
because i lose summer
what the fuck !
nothing to do but scrape together enough cash
to get back to athens o athens O
( after six months i can sing of athens
a place to come back tono turkey suppose i'll teach english
no italy and blast off
some letters to relativescan't travel in winter ) ( except to the south
another winter in athens ?money : busy fucking up friends
relatives employees associates mates and
even whole masses and groups of people whom
it never meets ( nothing personal( a poem must contain
everything of relevance to lifee. and a. don't have enough money
to get out of crete , so they have
to spend the whole summer here
which is a terrible disappointment
saved only by
e's belief that he can
work on his poetry
and a's that she
can finish her novelwhat really bothers me
is karl
he may well suffer from lack of money
modus vivendi
modus vivendi
how ?the sentence and paragraph don't exist in speech
in spontaneous utterance
when a man's words
get charged with emotion = the sentence is foutuelibrarians stick us on that island
" mega biblios mega kakos "
because they read books with an eye
to filing them for ready reference
and they need a subject name that looks serious
on the file card
together with printers
( and in our day scientists , politicians
and businessmen
kick the emotion and meaning out of wordswith the best of men ( and women
running this world
nobody could build a machine
of memory-intelligence
of any relevance to the universe
the more computers know
the less of significance is known
reductions of the universe
nobody has the right to do that
one deserves everything god dishes out
i demand no lessida
snow melts from the northern slopes
crystaline whiteness shows black gashes
the weather warms as spring comes on
and spring comes on so slowly
first warm then cold
as if earth wobbles madly out of controltuesday i rode with emmett up through
vineyards ( past knossos
the vines were stiff brown
bark shaggy and peeling
friday afternoon they were tipped with green fans
big enough already to flutter in the wind
last night it rained
today wind surges up the valley
slamming shutters
my feet are icy but not , thank god
as cold as when i first arrived
baDUM baDUM baDUM baDUM : iamb : not musicamong the vineyards : knossos : reflections of soul
( i got lost three times right off
the mind that made it
agglutinative architecture
labyros = double bladed axe
the labyrinth does not confuse
( straight & curved blades
once the whole is contained in mind
seen from above , it seems simple
one remembers labyrinthine hedges
the french were fond of planting
under the sun and relatives
false riddles don't count : claritas
exactly that : clarity
the birds above must laughdespite venetians ( to say nothing of dorians etc
and turks
cretans retain the labyrinth
iraklion has no center , no concentration
no concentricity
the venetian wall puckers scar-like over the maze
typical minoan : not even the port makes center
knossos about five kilometers
from the sea ( thalassocracy
and cupped on a serene slope
hidden from the drama of white-topped
mountains ( seasons
and the sea ( motion that will not stopthe turks leave practically nothing
music sweets
minarets added to old venetian buildings
the wall
honoring two cretans
kazantzakis ( exile / ascetic of the spirit
venezelos ( prime minister , during the republic
--i think
the stone slab over kazantzakis
shattered as if by bombs
the legend grows here
behind the slab , a wooden cross
stripped of bark , weathered white
about a man and a half tall
wobbling in the wind
and a headstone
: i fear nothing , i want nothing , i am free( visitors have copied the legend all over the stone
in pencil
and who could believe such audacity
in the hands of some men
words have meaning
: written
huge venezelos a mere effigy in bronze
cretans hold the ' volta ' in front of him
every sunday
traffic passes hard by
and a cool park ( long-needled pinus , eucalyptus
other round shapes planted close
ruined by traffic on all sides
no traffic passes under e's balcony except on footas scheveningen is to den haag
poros is to iraklion
in the old days poros was a leper colony
separated
from the city by a deep ravine
still unsettled
although houses now creep into iti feel like a leper
when i walk among the children in the suburb
they have been known to cast stones
e. says i look like christ at the head of a flock
hostility becomes curiosity when i speak to theman agricultural inspector
rakish blue uniform open to his hairy navel
informed me without preamble
: crete is rich
and gave me directions to an archeological site
not mentioned in tourist guides
' fantastiko taxidi ' fantastic voyage
sun sets just off the balcony
just out of reach , behind
mountains cut from construction paper
raquel welch : fantastic voyage
one mountain peaks like her breast
the sun nipples it on its way across the atlantic
meanwhile the aegean , blue aegean
gets washed out gray turning to ivory
then gold
the chryselephantine sea !knossos faces the sun's appearance , the east
mark : knossos and i have commerce between us
to face the rising sun
( the i ching advises me to return to athens
within seven daysraquel welch , fantastic voyage into inner space
the only space
that counts
in and out , a matter of energy
whether it exists , what's out there
' pragmatiko ' they say here
angels on pins
as many as care to
in and out energy flows both ways
fantastic voyage into the universe
wake up wake up you people out theremust the human spirit be also measured in mere coin
the sun in the east strains to arisewake up wake up and open your eyes
the day commences cool and fairput away dull dreams and awaken
the five drowsy inlets of soulthe this the that are one are whole
flowers of godhood be not forsaken
i , i for one , have no market value
and no contribution for industry
nor time , nor lovei fear nothing
but the malice of other men
i want nothing
but health and my natural fullness
i am free
of so little that i quake with forebodingon the steep side of mount iouktas
( under it : zeus
i see you , kazantzakis , as a boy of say 14
thirsty , burning under a cretan sun
on the same path
emmett and i
disdained the road
lately built for phone company access to antennasmy dry body tingled from exhaustion and fear
while eagles floated below me
be bird-like
my clumsiness annoys me
effortless altitude
jesus , what a drag
coming down the mountain
controlled fall
the as-if-painted landscape
becomes real again
on the same plane occupied by automobiles
the controlled fall
i gave the mountain the strength of my body
and below me ,
well below me
the eagles
eagles did fly
AT KNOSSOS entering the city i notice a girl on a nearby parapet
and we speak
for we are no strangers
i of my own
she of hers
for we are no strangers
and none more existwith the sun hot
overhead
the last chills of winter die cooly
against our cheeksknossos : beautiful cretan phoenix
of smoldering ash
throbs , as on the verge
vortex of flame-born
aloft , airborne
the sweet love bird
of consciousnesso my asphodel
my outspoken pencil
and the commodious gatherings of mind
APHRODITE monolithic fat thighed peasant
pendulous breasted
in the yard outside her stone spiti
she calls her daughter: aphrodite
: aphrodite
the seasons of beauty
pass violently
under the hot lip of crete
time patterns
redistribute themselves
on the sun: aphrodite
: aphrodite
the cool beautiful waters are bracing
in the sea off the coast of creteaxis : truth , beauty
let flower the deepest root of existence
and carve
:
fashion idols
and texts
on the biggest tree in the forestisomers , says emmett
isos meros the same parts
the same place
TODAY THE AIR today the air is invisible motions
of the magnifying lens
a vision void
sucks sight out of grapesthe world rushes to my face
( to catch that sharpness in words
of low greens
forged on a setting sun ,
transmutations of space by the leaf
with extra spilled on walkways , sprayedthe edges of nearby mountains
command this air with witches' scythesfew secrets survive
when an air like this lays naked palms on bannisters
in public places
under , say , the clock at grand central
where there is no time for a tree to grow
apart from kodak mural ( americanus in cobalt colorsto dull the machine tempo
bangs the red hot element
with tick-tock marks
as cold as all the gold under the dollarhistory may be
what more than habits of data collection
when the winds blow modern miles per hour
NOTE FOR A NEW EPIC genesis
my ancestors immigrated from the north ( father's side
mother's from the same general stock ,
wearers of skin robes , burr-hack tongued hunters
later with long faces , grave tones , ceremonial black
protest , respect for the devil and duty
to the New World !one worked cross-country
laying the first railroad track
another got there later , selling seeds or deeds
men / commerce of course
the women were pioneer daughters
faced with the choice : white man or indian
to the New World !
utterly personal
but the story is here
to the New World !
and they got cheated
( oppression aside for the moment
of everything worthwhile they brought along
cheated , fucked out of it
( to the New World !doesn't matter much where they come from
when the teeth of commerce get chewing rot-mind
the sort that produces market bombs
the gold standard the labor standard
( to the New World !
item -- loss of tools
i collect my tools : sight smell touch
taste hearing intellect ( kazantzakis
palingenesismeasures and uses of intelligence
( in our day
have little or no significance
problem-solving-habits
the only intelligence of value
( value = appreciation
is the intelligence of appreciation
a . q . appreciation quotient
beauty = sensation of life = truth
( what you believe ( what you experience
the not-false
look inside
look there & don't bullshit yourself
about where you are
some men appreciate the lull
as much as the conversation
consciousness :
to receive and transmit energy
is the great gift
the problem-solving habit
reduces the universe to problem
taoto hell with sentences / they warp the depths
often , too often
and danger
: the crystal , already rigid
gets tougher to cracknow --- energy & accuracy
prejudice against grammar to get them in
get them in
energy : units fields clouds vibrations
aimed : accuracy
focused : accuracy
freedom to balance energy-words
against words
crash !
the crystal cracks !
sheer power of expansion
bigness , bigger than the containersurrealists play all kinds of games
but why the hell don't they
get serious ?
not grave : serious , for the poets ( a . q .
make it new ( unique
the plastic forms of consciousness
with spectra : beauty
from essence
the concrete flower
tao --- the road , street
and the way to the New !
World
AXIS to make
expression in dire need of popularization
some thing , make some
body ( axis : beautya not inconsequential fact : blake
spoke to angels
while most never suspect
( beauty at the loinchagall's bird-woman-fish
flying mermaid
in her hands the globe
of flowers
the angel hovers
above the moon
above the sun
NICE soleil
fleurs marc etc
hovers above , sing-
le fish
alone in the sea
where the blue bay
nurses deep blue the city
: color burgeons in the globe
of flowers
and her tail
( colors gather on scalesflowers express
like living faces
express : energy
fish city angel
the upward order
mounting over the moon
over the sun & heavenly bodies
the color of freedom , i say
( sea sky blue
freedom to make
action : energyenergy lieth not in the heart of flower
energy explodeth from the whole
the whole flower , wild flower and brief
sweet gesture of earthblake rhymes with make
and his angels
( conjecture
may not madness outweigh , outvalue
/ bomb game / market race /
a madness
not wed to good sense , wed to nothing
of consequence
: / bomb game / market race /
head heart hands health
for the current slaughternow , about the angels
: is this blake guy a liar ?/ bomb game / market race /
sudden death
*universe*wonder*
sudden life
on any scale you can find
( make no mistake
life wins over death hands down
down
toward the earth
where they come from
: hands
miracles are as much miracle
for extending an eon or an age
perfection of many reasons
and no particular goal
*universe*wonder*
SONG truth : not fact , but
essential fact
the truth : experience
outward ( the nature-like soul
opening on the spark-wings of expansion
and beauty
for me the global axis
around which the universe turns
( cyclone energy , vortex' sitting devoutly at the feet of '
earth architecture
city of angels
abode of mani think always of the flower
and sequential seed-pod
and data-pulse
in the vital inlets of soulflowers of beauty and scents
sow meaning-glory seeds
of morning light ,
the dawnly chromatics of joythe same drop rains into every river
and returns to the brine of every seaan isomer of rain
is the pea-like vastness of my soul
METAFRUIT what i mean by the expression " to give energy to the universe "
also " to do , make , play and create "to enter with energy : uni-
continuum of consciousness *verse*wonder*
appreciation , alwaysthe remark that reveals truth always
and when questioned , always inclining
in the direction of beautyfor the whole universe a pulsation
of the divine partevery joy conceived by the living
out of earth's soul , the joy
itself a pulsation
of the divine part
universe*won*
der*
the compass rose of lifebeauty
|
creation ----------- joy
|
truthbeauty : ( no theories à la ' university '
a simple snail exceeds all posturesthe energy of it
drives the selfas sun drives fruit through vine , grape flesh
: the plastic forms of consciousness
is where i perceive it
" to give energy "
also " do , make , play , create "universe*one*der
wherever the seam of words
joins the commodious planes of reality
truth occurs
with amazing intensity
: is what i believe
with the five inlets of soul in this age
( & odysseus
i tell the story as it happen to me
and of fabrications i am master
ON THE OBVIOUS released from his cage
the freed bird
sits on a nearby limb
and sings his lovely heart out : fromeons out of pastness
from what is indestructible
( excuse the fatherly tonephoenix !
but the twisted out
ends of things
the burned out
and blacked , petro-
leum smeared
ashes
of things
seem to cry out , now
for guidance
o my god let itwherever odysseus wanders
and it shall from ashes arise
he never exits the realm of beauty ,
the denominator of significance
at the level of what is perfectly
obvious : truththere is terror out among these angels
( and i see them above earth , on it
and under the seathere is terror
as well there must be
: consider the green leaf over therei did not make it : nor green
( angels burrow through earth
pure shining granite diamond whatever
if they wantyet , sun will shine
in crystals metals hotnesses
come on , sun
give it to me : you're male and i'm
female when it comes to shining ,
jab a sunbeam at me
and i'll accomodatephoenix !
( how many times must i say it
from ashes ariseas i saw it rise out of the stones
of knossos : a city without wallsas in the consciousness
where words fail me for awefor the moment
the jewel is on my eyethe jewel ! there
and it all crashes in on me ( for awei emerge with : beauty -- truth , or myself
sight : vision
energy
love
fun
here is the map : the compass rose of life
beauty
|
creation ----------- joy
|
truthsome men walk in utter serenity within the temple
of earth , yet i take up my tools( " sight smell touch taste hearing intellect
and walk within the temple
like a sunburst of energy
aching to flash into songi sing with the vectors
of my mind
( a city without walls
faces the sunrise , knossos
let the centuries think of us as they willthe compass rose of death
war
|
profit ----------- power
|
commercegames !
the spasm of western civilization
to death
the cutting in twain came with the iron age
and iron still slices my fleshpoles
and i find myself in the vortex of energies between
themto the energies of napoleon
the philosophies offer armies
and the ridiculous ceremonies of statehoodthrow any net you like over the chaos
the green shining eyes of the cat remain
and the incessant growling in the throatin the savage throat no net contains
energy : ah , you great beauty
lie quietlythe savage chaos also sleeps serenely
on the sun-warmed stones
sleek as a dragon's scalepoles ( not dichotomies
dogs , like people , trip on the stairs
while cats purr in channels of oily purity
with a self-awareness that spooks me: where did they learn so much
observe the cat settling into the sphinx figure
in silencethey leave words , i. e. the spoken part
to me because i seem to care
and i do( endgame of the mathematical
that declines me now toward machines
for the exploration of outer spacerock of care : desire
when i have energy for outer space
i won't need their tinny contraptions
who wish wing and desire flightbuddha
you cat-like bastard
in that everywhere-land of the rising sun
when i pry wide
your lips
my own tongue flops out
wagging
like a peacock feather in wind
my own tongueS E L F ( no need to scout a new word
o n o u
n e v n
g r e and in this space : homage
g to the lowly flower
y
ginsberg ,
i have in mind your massive sunflowers
lunging toward heaven on fulcrum-mountains
of rotted flesh and blood oceansthe sunflower makes it
with much to spare , excessof flower-flesh color and scent
MEDITATION (2) the soul of soul is truth
the motion of soul is creation
the flesh of soul is joy
the presence of soul is beautylife rhythms turn slowly
every thing is an event
living is the ceremony of celebrationthe sole responsibility of prophecy
is avoidance of falsity
time is no moreonly the least significant measure of time
is measurablefather universe
son mangod
and holy spirit in all and beautyyou , reader , father son and holy spirit
pool-like pools of consciousness unite in unity
okay, and back to life okay , and back to life
weed worship
and love of wind sounds
from weed leaves
near the window
voices
you talk to me now , matter
5 perceivers of soul in this age
a bas ' deception 'value only as perceived
down to those rosy little hells
of its own ' conception '
on this rock shall you build : beauty! fly comes zooming in
from the garden
skids a loop past my ear
while taking in the green and blue leaves
printed on the curtain , fake , and across
the breeze diagonally making altitude
room check : : : seems dead in here
( this is where i live )
and coasts over the philodendron leafin the garden
she ' saw how beautiful the mushrooms are '
and got turned on to nature
garden : an organized area of outside insidea christian mind sends me a design for the ' city of man '
i learn about colors
( a friend discusses the merits of purple
yonika scratches the gate to get out
the dog
to avoid fouling her own living space
in desperation
she pisses on the neighbor's front porchyet another revolution in yet another country
in the past greece or france
in the future the same
yet another ' new ' system or ' new ' truth
with typical
news from my native land , america
( the new continent , atlantis rising
i have been cheated again by an employer
a year's wage
flushed down the commode
of a million-dollar deal called bankruptcy
these are the ashes from which atlantis phoenix-like
shall ariseplastic gardeners dust plastic grass
in cute little parks just off fifth avenue
kept at charming temperatures by air-conditioners
and the electronically approximated ' song of birds 'sweet wood of apple
parts for the wedge of teetha pseudo-widow of w. w. ll ( world war the second
slips into the garden
to report her lover seized by the police
( a journalist , for telling the truth
' state secret ' reads the chargeweed worship and a ' city of man ' greeny flower of
based on the asphodel ' incredible love 'definition : a place set aside to retain an air
of the ' great outdoors 'deep blue tiles in the oval pool
cool water washes over them
the new green of floating moss
swirls among moving shadowsa gray cat rubs flank against the arbor post
i saw fountain for the first time in paris
luxembourg gardens
emmett and i ( circled the basin
talking of robert duncan
exotic fonts
the rare textures of paper
to sculpt with water
infinite shapes of gold
cast on blue tile by the rippling wind
and that magnificent craftsman , heliosIMP CAESAR T AELIVS
made a little garden
in athens ( with paving stones
and a huge grafitti
IMP CAESAR T AELIVSarcheologists work in hadrian's library
inking numbers on fallen stones
notebooks full of foundation lines
two block away a greek
hangs over the temporary railing of a building site
where the scientists
have halted construction
while they record the lay of old stones
old stones
and the greek may be wondering
if his ancestors who lived down there
had it any better
old stones
cratered by ghostsnon licet omnibus adire corinthum
-- said those boring romans
while scribbling innumerable volumes
to formalize the rackets
the place grabs me
by the balls
acrocorinth
and pours in a vital energy
sufficient to burn out
the biggest voltmeter ever conceived
my prickand hung around the ruined temple of aphrodite
perpetrated perhaps
the most massive fuck
ever released into the realms
of reality
all the next day
while my brains posted off in search of ' evil 'for three months i cast around for the word :
my body chants the scripture of touchold stones
we've all been in bondage megali paraskevi
great or good fridaya thin layer of mud on the streets
after a wooly sky since noon
church bells athenian style
unmelodious claps and bongs
the color the air like sunsets of tone
( rain is crucifixion weather
from aigios nikolaos
a modest procession bears church bric-a-brac
and candles shielded by left hands
candles on puddles in the hollows of paving stonesthe big bell of metropolis
dashes a warm tongue on my ear
and hums the mystical syllable
a kind of collision on the crowded streetinside the ring of police
surrounding the cathedral square
soldiers manoeuvre in honor of crucifixion
human dominoes baDOOM by
with muzzles turned downward
to keep the powder dry
on the day of crucifixion
( rain is crucifixion weatherthe archbishop's jewels strike dark like sparks
of divine fire unable to smelt the rap of rifles
for the marvelous sounds of bellon sunday
the king arrives in a sleek limousine
escorted by 36 white stallions
-- a few greeks applaudwith jewels machinegunning the night
the archbishop fires the pyrotechnics
of the top brass
and sends an olympic runner
with a flame for the crowdwe all take light from each other
at midnight the archbishop announces the obvious
christ is risen
a little severe rejoicing
by the bells
the army runs through the manual of arms
and the king catches a lift back to the palace
in a handy iron panther with bullet-proof dome
escorted by 36 white stallions
the street swarms with beautiful people
all the descendants of diogenes
looking for an honest man
christos anesti
and his yellow tongue licks away at the shadows
falling across their faces
soft glow and shadowlessour philodendron gave birth to a new leaf this morning
by natural caesarian section
now they are three
with the infant still coiled
in translucent leaf flesh
bearing the green scrawl of the love treea perception like a drop of water
the mind
like an artesian well
splits the rock
to take shape from surrounding land( pool-like pools of consciousness unite in unity
every day of summer
after working in the fields
a weedy lake with rich yellow water
no beaches
everywhere traces of wild animals
poke heads out of the forest
for a look at the stars
and a long drink
by 6 o'clock the sun falls behind pine tops
the dark water sparkles with silver flames of bass
as they leap for low flying insects
a lake very like mind in the valleya hand
guides me from the dimensions
of my apartment on adrianou street
( hadrian , maker of wall and gates
to heaven
and i find it to be
exactly as i want it
a small field of brilliant yellow buttercups
a gentle humming
flowers swirl above my head
a yellow canopy of butterflies
and the sun like candle light
soft glow and shadowlessthus also in the book of the dead , tibet
a zen friend reports
( the number of unread books
constantly increases
A WAKE FOR DEAD MOTHER what my country offers me
america o america
o to be in gloucester
now that olsen's thereto appear acceptable to the average
employment manager
to think with the tools of
manifest insincerityi am am am amer i can
( with 999 legs from radio city
nothing i can can can
( with a lyndon bandmaster
do do do about that
my country 'tis of theethe boss rrrrupt a deck of bill in my palm
" as long as one's living , he said
one might as well have the good things of life "
since it was near the 4th of july
i quit to go find the good things
while the sun was still shiningtil i find how sweet the berry
more lives together makes merry
the hollywood universeuninterrupted epic since parthenon
the house of christ served by major-generalsthe sound
of one
hand clappingthe sound
of one
atom splittingamerican o american
you see the invisible particles of nothing
near the nothing particle of nucleusnot the orbit which makes matter
energy orbits energy
makes lifethe pied piper of earth wails a grit horn
all priests and watchtower salesmen
... immediately instructed to redeem
... they have been issuing for centuries: a rain check on the pleasant
universe
this side of mind... is the bastard who instructed you
love of mother is illness
hate of mother is illness
... disinterest is contagion
o amer america , power of usurious distinterestsweet , the sweet berry
life together maketh merryour old mother
dies on the doorsill
a wake for dead mother
we'll never get some other
PHILODENDRON LEAF the love tree leaf
unfurls itself banner
nearly so big as parents
with a hole pattern of archipelago
mediterranean sailing chartin the house up north
the little babes are born
without holes
and grow some with ageour fly-through babe
the flies buzzand nestles the motherly stem arm
that grew one week two feetbalances law the wind
for the strength of arms so swift" adagio of islands o my
prodigal you are so
human so divinebeauty
yy
gyyg
c rgyygr
r ergyygre
e nergyygren j
a energyygrene o
t nergyygren y
i ergyygre
o rgyygr
n gyyg
yytruth
" may my speech be one with my mind ,
my mind one with my speech
WET the weird green fruit
squanders its juice on adjacent rocks
how just , the unintentional seawith this cove full of girls and boys
wanting each otherone speculates whether
the government will outlaw bikinis
henceforth , the form
of woman is to be secret , perhaps ignored
for the good of the nationhow those bellies overhang ! the breasts dangle
the thought of a hairy gash squeezed in all that fat ,
the irony amuses me
( last nightthe handsome bitch near the road
sports a dozen cool swains
milling around like copstwo males split the scene
and lope
with tails swinging
a couple of studs
with three hundred and sixty-five days a yearout to share a bark
at things
nobody ever thought
of barking at before( last night
my shadow lags back , ranges ahead
from streetlight to light
humming along
on a rough landscape
of sun-white stalksthe land has an air of late summer
before i've seen
the wet things of the worldthe summer flesh of city girls
and crabs
out for a stroll in the sun
YONIKA the dog world stinks
yonika goes crazy with joy smells
her nose takes over
wanders relaxedly around
bestowing recognition of sniff
and what smells good
she clamps with a bite
information gathering
with learned teeth
yoni the shiteater
knows the asshole taste
of multitudes
scavenger of fleshi unwrap a candy bar
she noses up on my knee
and parks her tail with hungry eyesbalconies down one side of the street
trees on the other , the park
straight and curved on a race
: itsablur upahead :
dali territory freak time crimes
where the hell is the gate to gardenautoanimals on the right
dinosaur ridden sky , o curse
( light screams , ear havoc
chainmail vaults crude
steel coffins for cities
sawblades chop live bonefor cities :
spidery rorschach of a map
star ashram without walls
city of awareness
too bad
philosophers and henchmenyou're now
case historiesmedical reports on a recently conquered
diseasea 1903 communication from a jungle
infested with yellow feveri give the bee back her hive
and the ant his labor
RIGHT NOW i come out of the wheaty air , heat of ovens
into the sunflame streettwo youths in front of me
with bulging briefcasesunder my arm to pio mavro
a loaf of the brownest breadagainst temporary arrangements
and transitory conventions of value
the diet of discovery ,
subtle food" you may believe anything you like
says the academy
meanwhile unbelieving everything
but don't confuse belief with truth baDUMin the brown envelope sprouts the greeny fruit
of now-in-full-bloom the money tree
whose noxious gasses asphyxiatethe autumn state of mind
is rigorously forbidden , banned
by love ' classified '
as emotional treacherous territory
full of devils and angelswhile mercenaries guard the sepulchre
and love is a mode of being
while buddha enters the harmonic realms
the same as caring-not-caring
while a yacht under full sail crosses meridians
HER NAME earth does not fail
greeks making it around this land
in bodies that once enclosed
the beam
( of universe ) within their skulls
perhaps aflame
with the first fever
of those parched minds of today
( banishment of king life reign of deathfirst penetration of mind
through the mirror of meaning
first nausea among jagged reflectionsthe earth does not fail : these dragon's teeth
push up men among dry bones , and despair
is unknown to the thin soilthe dog bounds to greet me : my hand on the gate
dog bomb of energy : love attack near the knees
its always like this when coming homeall night with eisenstein , traffic with the obvious
as great men perceive it
explorers dimensions prophecy
light years from
the academy gone the way of ossificationall night with eisenstein how to capture truth
in reflections
fatigued
i turn away from my image in a car window
my eye
caught
by pink blossoms
dropping
away
from summer trees" only when eve was made perfect was adam
" thus also made perfect
her name is his
his name is hers
HOME IN PLAKA the green-nervous focus of energy , an
eye-catcher stage-right in the gardenis plants that grow !
( a grandchild philodendron born last weekbig as a face-towel it hangs there
like a limp fish
digging the pressure of wind on green scalesto soften the blow
of stone squares in walls , square as
sharp corners
designed before memory
the kitchen looks a lot like a manger
where i imagine christ is borni can practically see
straw needing a haircut at the windowinside-space
like a cave
when you go out of the mouth
you go in
have the experience
of going out of something into something else
for a moment , until the sun strikes you( lying on my bed
home is what a person has
where he commands the atmosphere :
as if in a courtyard outside
of some modest building ,
a rectangle of inner-space
divided at the golden mean
by an inside wall with a window in itmonkeys could as well live in my cave
( the back wall is buried
in the base of athene's territory
especially those pliocene
carnivores
the weapon inventors
our fathers
the monkeys who kill as a way of lifearcheologists
may never find it necessary to prove
although our fathers live , they are deadmy guess for the age of the house
is 10 going on 15 thousand summers
and about the same number of anoixi
they call spring here
the season of openings
VIEW AT SUNSET it's the view that arrests in this spot
at the other end of the street
where athene gave first messages
kleomenous that circles lycabettosit's the view that freezes significance
like the black lacquer of mysterya four-masted schooner rides at anchor in the bay
off new phaleron
everything has name
and meanings are elsewherethe weird sun
sets behind a disintegrating rocket cloud
from this angle
the parthenon looks undamaged , whole
a freshness
of deaths and births against the eye
a place that counts
' old flat-top ' i call akropolis , an arsenalblue salamis , aegina , peloponnesos
outlined by densities of mist
as if memories of death
from the far side of the water of oblivionin the distance
the missile disintegrates and clouds come back
darkness
the schooner glows with treasures
along the deck
jewels cascade four masts
Quiet Clouds, part 1: Life Lines
Quiet Clouds, part 2: Pause , Pulse
Quiet Clouds, part 3: Drywater