Excerpt
Untitled Page
STRANGER IN TOWN
PRINCE VALIANT
Your first presence
is that of a con man
down on his luck.
You cross on the ferry
and return
as it gets dark.
Heating a pair
of candlesticks
to warm the studio
I was to live
quite comfortably
at the end
of each needle
to receive my ghost
I took out
a writing room also
among derelicts
who would pay
unwittingly
the highest prices
besides the apartments
for their dry cleaning
and drinks,
TOP OF THE MARK
soiled by each groom
till I reach the morgue,
One we can lean on
in our ascension
to heaven
to CHINA FIELDS
and the cufflinks
You had better
recognize
It was more
of an open invitation
and should
he care to appear,
good thing it was recorded.
His walking seaside,
His being punished
for talking Indian.
A bronze bust
soon to be unveiled
in PIONEER SQUARE
The greatest
of all features
in its design . . . Mercy
the brass ring
and clear purple tomb
in a door knob.
LISBON
I get so
tired at times
and thank
all of
the pills
for being
themselves
and the men
I thank as many
as I bring
to mind again
Fine lines
wander the top
of the stairwell
also in my place
A gaslight
desk set
stagecoach
Blueprints
for imperial
washrooms
Arrows longing
for the
other bank
DAYBREAK STAR
Twice wrongly accused
I had wandered into the booth
to be alone,
Every morning
the black sunrise,
gay shame awards,
I write more letters
suspicion is heightened
by the wording
& my ability to relax.
I shall be made
thy music
since I shut the doors
on this
holy room,
just got a big fine
leather chair
& copy of FORTUNE
(I’ve worked all my life.)
had stumbled off
from the lighthouse
& had my choice
more rooms
than I had time,
It was one of my best comes
Identical
To such new luxury
the marsh banks
keep it small, I appreciate
its stable & its manor
its drowned exile, flight
to what restless longing
The films and tapes
& cinemascopes
I screened all together
& typed out a list
THINGS I FIND EXTINCT
The audience, my own
a higher order
with whom
I would consent to learn
read, converse, never this building
a replica world.
This is my test
of the ink, the privacy
in composition prized.
SPEEDWAY
FOR JOHN WEINERS
I cut out the “Heart with Snowflake”
Myself but it is not mine, Forget
This bloody coat bloody shirt, I
Think it is the writing that makes
Me sick, The scores and scores of
Incidental music, this nosebleed all
Spring all wet, I’m positively angry
with the Impertinence of it! I’m
Sewing up the kinks in this film, I’m
Trying to! I’m trying to burn a light
Between, There’s a light and I cable
my voice on it but it rips when I trace
Anything! WORKS ON PAPER, THE SHIP
OF DEATH “Oh build it!” Sings the
Heart, “My coat would be so bloodied
I could wiggle out of my coat!”
SERIOUSLY UNDERDRESSED
Acid washed
Jeans, bitten down
Fingernails, I’ve been
Uptight all
This week wishing
Invisibility,
Scented tissue
I can tease
Into flowers, same
As ever My heart-
shaped collapsible
Locket is still
Missing & I miss
Wearing it open,
I remember a black
Fog inside so
Combed through, trapped
And willingly
Shining me on