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