Category: PROSE

Unscreened Skin

Gravity is different by

The Sound.

It pulls heavy and only at

obtuse angles.

Obstinate ampersand obdurate.

Reorientation of the body required.

Leaning forward or back in

pendulous periodicities.

Diabolical hills slanting, paving the path into the noonday sun.

We no longer need wings like Icarus to get

close enough to be burned.

To melt.

Beadlets of perspiration drop into my eyes.

I pretend it stings with the sunscreen

I forgot to put on me.

I am not made-up.

No protection from the ol’ grease-paint.

No quarter from the shade of trees, these days.

Freckles bloomed on my face two days ago.

I catch full-on colo/u/r, now.

An intersection provides me two options:

i) turn 90° and

go horizontal.

ii) climb to-wards the sun.

Y-axis at the point of origin. Straight vertical.

I go up. Higher.

My breath catches-up with the momentum of my stride…..

…… 30 seconds later.

My heart catches my breath

…………60 seconds later……..

I reach the near-top.

False tree-line, per se.

My face suddenly blooms into a rose.

Red. Ruddy.

Like someone made me blush rather too easily.

I relish.

I smell active.

I actively smell

through nasal inhalation

and oral exhalations.

Over the Pint

He told me, up front, he was gonna try to lead me to Christ.

There is a difference between ‘devotion’ and ‘love’: the man tells me.

You dont have to have one to have the other: I ask.

No: he says; and, then he brings up Satan.

I ask: how we could have Job if the devil and god did not need each other?

The barkeep checks on us.

We were having too good a discussion.

No arguement.

Curious.

I think: you are a good representative for your tribe.

Then I tell him I think so.

He smiles. My goal accomplished.

Speakeasy Alleys

The fan at the bar who

drank zero drinks for

hours

leaps to his feet

/baby says she’s mine/

/you know she tells me all

the time/

/you know she said so/

He flashed a fiver

and dances up the length

of the bar’s entrance

and back down again.

Pro-offered & finally

accepted.

A silver fox takes his

hand.

Howl they dance.

She dances with him

through the next three

covers.

Not a bad turn around on

investment, in this fool’s eyes.

A girl dances along-side

them and begins waving.

Then, she plays it off.

She did not know to

whom she waved.

But, maybe she will.

Ever-one jumps up and

rushes to dance to CCR.

I say: I like the smell of

your leather.

He says: you’re the girl in

the black dress.

I say: there’s some white

crosshairs on here.

He smiles; and, I walk away.

I espy the Dance Partner

give her number away

while all ages free-dance

I overhear: it is what it is

Howl yes

It is

And, the band howls:

Here it comes

/well nothing I do don’t

seem to work, <howl>, it

only seems to make

matters worse/

The bassist nails the

outro.

Then, on the next song,

the band changes singers.

They break into

Rebel, Rebel. They

miss a line.

They redeem the

recapitulation of

Ziggy Stardust

/gurl, I want to be with

you/

It is funny

Go across an ocean and

they sing southern, u.s. rock.

Come back home and all they wanna sing

is the British invasion.

A breeze blows from

The Sound

as I walk home alone.

Improudst (a fake word)

Improudst: to be proud (without being prideful) and impressed at the same time. Remove any context of patronizing condescension. A sub-sense of glad.

Perhaps, the distinction is

arbitrary.

Arbiters and arbitration.

You know the contract only allows for third-party mediation.

No civil,

state, or federal matter.

Signed away for re-insurance.

A contract written in favor of the contractor.

Write.

Rite.

Right.

The locals always laugh at the outfits of outsiders.

Shutter speed unable to

capture the insider’s view.

Lurid does not mean illicit,

Nor does it imply morbidity.

Fecundity. Gestational periods are not

sette in stone.

A set containing itself is self-referential.

A sette that sings itself.

So, I ask myself: can you tell me something good?

Howl, yes: I think.

“Thanks, that means a lot coming from myself.”

I can chop like a master. Slowly.

The vivisection of a tomato

is proof of magic.

Oranges grow on trees whether

you have a personal savior

or not.

Howl-lelujah: say mavericks.

Please, do not be cross with me, kindly.

God does not speak to me directly.

Don’t take pity; take patience in exposition?

That of which you have proof

alludes us.

So, let’s

Come Together

To Talk?

Swallows are Birds

I heard that hard swallow at being told: no, you can’t;

The situation is too volatile.

Vulnerability.

(It’s okay to be enraged at potentially outrageous situations).

A shot fired. Guns.

A shot snapped. Cameras.

A shot of courage. Liquor.

Vaccinated but not contaminated.

The etymology of the epidemiological epistemology of existentialism.

The dose is the poison.

The poison is the dose.

Salk knew it.

“The dose reveals” says the allegory of Watson & Crick.

Transpossesses

Slip tight the switch-blade to its sheath.

The danger is non-corporeal,

ethereal & dark,

and still

celestial light.

I carry naught

but A tad of “go eff yourself,”

caddish Minnesängers,

Mumbling into mics while the audience mouths the words

as they have heard them.

Metaphysical marching soldiers move back

towards Ohio.

Prodigious and prolific would-be prodigies propagating propaganda on the cable programs.

They repeat themselves between commercial breaks.

Ex-pats so fed up they repatriate.

Ing-pen

The girl said: both these seats are taken.

I said: I see the capped drinks now.

She said: they are smoking.

I said: I can dig that.

A chick karaokes my favorite Little Mermaid song.

Quite well, in fact,

as she did not

make it

quietly.

The other girl I mentioned,

She said: this was my favorite movie as a child.

I say: me too. Hair flowing under water, huh?

The next gal sings

Jolene

/please don’t take him just because you can/

She sings it well,

to boot.

A guy steps up to sing

A love song

that includes a spell

of numbers that I do not recognize.

Then, he says he’s gonna call the po po

<A lyric simply sung>

He did not write/right the song.

And, I move back-sdraw

About nine years.

And, I wonder:

Perhaps it is no love song, after all.

/her hands are never cold/she’s got Betty Davis eyes/

Sings the next gal.

I sit, locked, like a female stag, sweet sorrels, and everything in between.

/prepositional end-

ing intended/

No-one is the Only-one

that knows me here.

Anonymity through close proximity.

And, Some-one yells: I don’t know what Betty Davis…what are Betty Davis eyes?

I think: Howlarious.

The smell of cigarettes drifts in and some fellow howls: set me free.

And, I wonder: can

anyone but you “unchain your heart and set you free?”

The screen reads: musical

break 12 measures.

I count to twelve

In-time

@ least I do in a different

pla(i)ne.

Musical break: 8

measures

He says: check, check,

sixteen times.

On-time.

Underwriting College Electorates

Glass blown to be exploded and recapitulated;

An album sleeve painted on a deadline;

The record of your time-frame.

A jewel-disc case

is resonant to a cassette; but,

it is not the book.

Provide an open-secret viz a viz a well-demarcated rabbit~hole.

Spray painted peri-

meter to warn that:

YOU FALL AT YOUR

OWN RISK.

own your risk.

Parçigal Scribbles

“I, me, me, mine.“

me

me me

me(squared)

Meme.

What about I, them, they, and y’all, y’all?

[C] Igor’s [A] FIREBIRD.

SEE.

SEES.

SEEN.

SCENE.

SEAS.

SEA.

A kind, well-placed laugh saves lives and creates

leaves.

Prevents

leaving.

So does music.

These things are integral but can

reduce to simple vibrations

(sounds like baying bays) being

transmitted for transmutation into and via the very air, all around,

ampersand surrounding us.

Just a li’l trick.

Hip.

Tricky music.

Hop then trip.

Ewer.

Vessel; cistern; bota; boat; bladder.

Graal.

Grail; medium; (too short to push it.); contain-er.

Vassal.

Serf; indentured; unlanded,

(untitled).

《Qua Knight/semi-night/All~Nite》

How/l I appear: Howl I am: How I perceive.

mended pantyhose rationed during/for war/s.

P.

nuts placed for scared stellar’s

J’s.

Knights need not be brave, strong, or superior.

Knights must care, kindly, and try.

And speak honestly.

That’s all.

K/no\W

there are covert, cunt-try k/night\s, as well.

I,

i,

your Parçigal being

one:

1:

i

I:

i:

Grating the Asphalt

An empty vessel receives anything.

The stroller held no child.

She was me.

No alien but, perhaps, a stranger.

Foreign.

I walk the block.

Stalk the running ground.

Note where cigarette butts have

been discarded.

Curious cars cruise.

Suddenly, I breathe fire.

My silver wings unfurl.

They are cold, blue steel

this sundown.

Each feather a shiny, double-edged blade.

Sparks sprinkle behind as they strike the pavement.

I ‘walk like a giant on the land.’

A girl does not see the car approaching her.

I slam the metallic feathers

hard

against the ground.

The dear freezes before being in the head-lights,

and looks over.

Wings already retracted out of sight.

I shrug and give a goofy smile.

I pass A Avenue.

I remember someone wondering if they meant

An Avenue.

I find the fourway intersection at Hemlock & Main.

But, where is

The Avenue?

In/definite articles.

Derived and integral.

I h0wl fire,

flames forth,

[Silent]

Un0bservable except to the energetic-ally

Sighted.

The sun catches my flames and explodes into a sunset.

Pink and blue sky-eyes

Make a wish.

The haze and light will

Last

A bit longer

Still.

Day one

Præternatural proclivities pronoun/ce the unpitiable and unpitying.

A pitted, slim pumpkin.

A seeded watermelon.

A new place to walk.

Sound. It is

Not a bay but

A sound.

Waving, watery vibration beneath the ferryman’s boat

All filled with cars which are all filled with humans.

A smattering of skaters, bikers

Pedestrian/s who pay the toll with coins covering

One or both eyes.

A pied

Am i.

There are berries on a tree proceeded by a cigarette butt discarded on the pavement.

Dancing in the Dark

The night I fell I felt compelled to go to the forest.

I dressed and laced my boots with hard, cold eyes.

Called, hard.

Badger baiting.

Bait and switch.

You made my eye twitch, but I oblige/d.

Begrudingly yet lovingly.

I danced on the trail.

Aloft on one foot.

The right one.

Bowing head, extending an arm

Lengthening the aloft leg.

Up, up, up, and then flush, into a straight line, with my torso.

Cutting a right angle with my single body.

Trunk, face, left leg perpendicular to the right leg.

I told the company corps. to do this.

To do this and to hop, ever so slightly

backwards.

So, I had to do it myself.

I did so successfully for the first three quarters of a mile.

Then, my snaking sneak snaps.

The ankle keels over while the rest stays a droite.

I find myself on my back.

Stunned and hurt.

I found myself

Five seconds into the future,

Taking stock of my body.

No phone.

Pain.

I walk home just like I walked to the trail.

One foot in front of the other.

A Sign of, The southern cross

A Sign of, The southern cross

As solar ræs alchemicalize water to solid dirt,

I ask the twelve year old:

Can you tell me what the difference is between a child and

a kid?

(Joke gotten.)

S/he laughed. I smiled.

Spiralin’, perfect circles

refuse to come into focus.

[I/1/i/one time]

@

k/Nigh/t

/Nigh/ a year ago, Uris (a brown bear) & Æ

walked you through this forest.

Clear and right to another plane.

It was the dead

Of

k/Nigh/t.

We passed a couple, bodies doubled,

back on

this slat.

They saw us thru.

I laughed. Startled.

Bemused, i held anxious Uris back.

A month later the

gatekeeper (let me a’) passed with a “god bless.”

It was not the night I went dancing in the dark woods.

This was the

k/Nigh/t

The kids twisted metal.

The dragonfly

Left

You, this flower.

A spoonful can

Abso-

Lutely

weigh a tonne.

Just as much as the difference

One inch this or that way

Can make

iN

the AbovE & THE bELOW

pictures.

A watery sky, waves below from on the surface.

A tree finds itself well-positioned.

Walk it Off*

It is only a recoil of the reflexes followed by the relaxation of a newly relieved muscle.

A relic remaining

Released after renewal

Continues

Wrecking me impeccably.

Me in a You-Howl.

Light panther Eyes included

The reenlivened stone panther turning to moss.

Her eyes shine.

Even the car’s breeze is

friendly on days like todays.

And, i cannot tell dust specks

from pollen from

cottonwood nor

seed from insect.

The sun stings.

Disaffected is not unaffected as much as dispassion does not necessarily

imply apathy.

Expelling exhalations

I pass through two gates.

My breath manages

to hit me in my

own stomach.

White fuzzies fill my peripheral.

A busy broad.

Little bobbing heads under water. Learning to feed the self.

Cue that cricket queue ready to play

With legs rolling over like car

engines.

The dragon grew a mohawk.

And, a man passes, reading the same piece of paper that I passed him

reading a week ago.

Sweet thing, don’t freeze in my prescence.

Why did the racoon cross the road?

I dunno either, but one sure did last night.

Right in front of me.

A dog panting on the trail

Makes me wonder:

How does that muzzled dog sweat?

Looking down whilst standing on a bridge over the salmon ladder,

You see

You can jump down from above

And into the sky above?

I heard you playing accompanied accordian in the parking lot down the trail.

He was playing real good for free.

I know because you could only tip him in

An unlabeled box.

Howl Maverick.

Acephalous

The sun shines when the rain dance resumes.

Limbs ampersand branches coyly sign “hi” on tidal-waving breezes.

“Hi. How are you? Why do you keep that dog muzzled?….Oh, I see.”

Sometimes, we hold certain truths to be self-evident.

Sometimes we deny them.

Others and selves; same and unsanne.

Obscure, absolve, aquit.

“Atone, louse.” That is not what she said.

Surely.

“I’m a lousy gal, sometimes too,” she actually

Said.

Herringbone does not yawn

Fuzzy balance

of positive and negative space

on a cape that I drape around me

to step outside.

The grey morning opens wide

And inhales me into its reality.

Here we go again.

/

I fell into fitted sleep last night

while listening to to

to the British “Sir” talk consciousness.

I read two of your books.

A late night compatriot who noticed

the emporer was still naked.

(“A new theory,” he said, “not another reinterpretation.”)

S/he should borrow

My houndstooth.

/

I awoke to your unannounced reentry.

There is nothing to take, hurt, or steal

but me

But, you could still lock the door

When you do leave.

This time

The blue specks return at

this time of day.

Scepters of spectres.

Spectators of the Spectra.

Speculators and crusty prospectors.

Gold merchants running along-

side the train.

The Highwaymen will

see to

them soon enough.

Yelling: always pay yourself first.

The only people not fearful of

such speak

are snickering kids.

The immortal ones.

How old do you feel most

of-the-time?

The sun will set in the next

five minutes to five hours.

It gets

Tricky.

When

I did write something for you

before we met.

At the little theater you barely

Remember.

Painted stars on the roof

twinkled to indicate

the show was shortly

Underway.

A connoisseur versus a collector.

Coat-tailers and chasers

Partners in crime.

A trail-off of the trellis

Braided-up locks

Flow like tresses

Caught in bureaucratic

Lochs

Being and nothing

Ness

Scorches from Summer Clouds

The dragon is impatient.

Selectively scorching leaves

Such as these

Fading embers still ablaze

Sparks off burned tar.

Shedding hair is ripped.

Old roots know where to look

And look gracefully.

A leaf suspended.

Not alit by wind.

Brambles

Steles revel as Black Pond evaporates.

A lean-to against a cut-down.

A greasy blender rubbed wrong.