II.



SHEM<>SHAM





"It is only a few who reach the edge of the world where its mirror /image begins"

(Peter O’Leary)









“shem was a sham

and a low sham

and his lowness

creeped out

first via foodstuffs”







the sniffers were hired to find illicit fish. the sniffers were invisible

but the ghosts were not. the fish were illicit but the sniffers were not.

the sniffers were not dramatic. their signs meant bugger all.

slogans were on the march. by and by, money missed

the mark. the fish were illicit but the sniffers were not dramatic.

the signs meant bugger all. money was the beacon. the sniffers missed

the slogans. the fish missed the money. the signs meant bugger all.

by and by, the fish became dramatic but the sniffers were not.









we sent a distressed signal. a sequence of gestures in space. but they pipped slogans through the vents. lucky charms were sold

on the mountain. bloody knees meant god-with-us. clouds meant all

too soon. a mouth meant funnel you funnel me.

then the conditional went professional.







the head was a house and the world was a wet leaf.

then the shutter revealed a dark comedy.



for such a long time food was food. a blessing was a blessing.

then the target shifted.



in the wilderness two words diverged (“them”) (“us”)

and the serpent coiled around them









a sham for every shem. pumping or expressing by hand. molding the old.

rolling the eyes. between the lips amiss.







chasing the enigma of what we always where could we abandon every sign? meaning farewell. every sun-soaked surface presents a memory. yellow light a tremor.

the color of war the color of loss. transient traces stone past knowing.





in an afternoon

of ancestors



each hand/ was a stone/ in the road/ each step/ or after





and the serpent coiled around them.











marching band <> band of marchers







THUMP and WHISTLE



cloak and dagger



orange sash



eternal slash







to cue (a)muse a moose a lodge



the eyelids



a patter



with music







falling

between

endless

bodies



the

bells





miles out

of orbit

on a

ancient swell



tiger/ tiger / scream



(what did it mean?)







3 roused themselves to find

the buried bells

in every living thing





wending

Anna Livia Plurabelle



heartshaker

in the heavings of history







there was a tiger in the hippo-campus. in thatone could feel while reading.

dressing the part. doing the time. events unfolding. washed-out tye-dyed mind. in that one could feel while reading – a rending. another traced

or stenciled. at the foot of the bed two cats – asleep – colied together.



in leaving the created habitat of Tiger Island

in waking the tyrant's device





we did

not

rely solely

on the bells

to keep

our loved-ones

alive









through the hole



the bulls are coming

the bulls are coming





ringdance

eternal utter

make way

make way



the bulls are coming



through the hole