31 December 2011

Other People's Poetry: Tony Hoagland's "When Dean Young Talks About Wine"


When Dean Young Talks About Wine
The worm thrashes when it enters the tequila.
The grape cries out in the wine vat crusher.
But when Dean Young talks about wine, his voice is strangely calm.
Yet it seems that wine is rarely mentioned.
He says, Great first chapter but no plot.
He says, Long runway, short flight.
He says, This one never had a secret.
He says, You can’t wear stripes with that.
He squints as if recalling his childhood in France.
He purses his lips and shakes his head at the glass.
Eight-four was a naughty year, he says,
and for a second I worry that California has turned him
into a sushi-eater in a cravat.
Then he says,
               This one makes clear the difference
between a thoughtless remark
and an unwarranted intrusion.
Then he says, In this one the pacific last light of afternoon
stains the wings of the seagull pink
               at the very edge of the postcard.
But where is the Cabernet of rent checks and asthma medication?
Where is the Burgundy of orthopedic shoes?
Where is the Chablis of skinned knees and jelly sandwiches?
with the aftertaste of cruel Little League coaches?
and the undertone of rusty stationwagon?
His mouth is purple as if from his own ventricle
he had drunk.
He sways like a fishing rod.
When a beast is hurt it roars in incomprehension.
When a bird is hurt it huddles in its nest.
But when a man is hurt,
               he makes himself an expert.
Then he stands there with a glass in his hand
staring into nothing
               as if he were forming an opinion.

30 December 2011

"clark answered with an apologetic no," or an acting exercise


practicing,

"no?"
it just rises signifies nothing sounds
porcine i think of her bent ass exposed
the o lurches sunward then slumps
waiting waiting — a tick — i know but she does not
punishment is anticipation the second
guessing her nostrils tossed up into the air
surrenders her pink neck bent back ass exposed
again: 
"no?" 

better, 
i think i've got it now.



untitled 12292011115, magic [revision]

a thumb jammed deep in the eye of some tragic blonde
and stain her clothes her bedsheets teach her blindness

you get over pain like with the flick of a magic wand
when she sleeps you open your eyes and inflict love 

preferably she shows you a glimmer of affection
preferably when she is tired and you are tired

just long enough so she lets you beside 
to heal a wound inflict a wound

to inflict a wound is to be kind
to heal a wound inflict a wound

just long enough so she lets you beside
preferably when she is tired and you are tired

preferably she shows you a glimmer of affection
when she sleeps you open your eyes and inflict love

you get over pain like with the flick of a magic wand
and stain her clothes her bedsheets teach her blindness

a thumb jammed deep in the eye of some tragic blonde.

29 December 2011

untitled 12292011115, magic


you get over pain like with the flick of a magic wand
a thumb jammed deep in the eye of some other
preferably someone who shows you a glimmer of affection
the only way to heal a wound is to inflict a wound
the only way to inflict a wound is to be kind to another
just long enough so they let you lay beside 
preferably when they are tired and you are tired
when they sleep you open your eyes and inflict love upon them 
and stain their clothes and their sheets and teach them blindness.

27 December 2011

sad little de sade


i'd 
love you 
to know

here sit
grey things 
night springs

sad little 
de sade 
no more

at present
the wind
at my back

so far
the moon
at my rear

everyone
blind broken
held near.



19 December 2011

CYCOLA


[Oil, acrylic, molding gels — 48''x 36'' — Sold for $25,000]

17 December 2011

once sweet


(chrysalis is the word i was looking for — WIKIchrysalis (Latin chrysallis, from Greek χρυσαλλίς = chrysallís, pl: chrysalides) or nympha is the pupal stage of butterflies. The term is derived from the metallic gold-coloration found in the pupae of many butterflies, referred to by the Greek term χρυσός (chrysós) for gold.)

15 December 2011

deciding on the news, or what hemingway couldn't say about icebergs


trite, trite, trite
it's the power of cross-examination
no, a weak wristed witness
no, the small jewish lawyer 
with the italian last name,
he plays the best lawyer on tv
no, the loudest
no, defeat sounds like dismissal
and the nodding audience misses it
when the witness cuts off the rat's head

these grand gestures
three men, grown men
dressed up
IN SUITS!
unbloodied opponents all lined up
petitioning a fourth man
a loose tie suggests power

(i cannot spy his shoes, black leather
penny loafers, i surmise and move on)

these grand gestures
Lenny Bruce moves with the microphone stand
the best-dressed man 
his smooth gray
hair, pale
blue tie
speaks least, but last
a long-dead drummer taught us

silence is often a grand gesture

the later it gets, the more tomorrow it becomes
the attorneys finger their 
smooth faces, betray a tell
but are bound to winning, like a killer or his victim 
to a chair

"But where is this going, gentlemen?"
this democratic pageantry,
can we arrive at the truth already?

trite, trite, trite
if compassionate consumers have taught me anything 
truth — ice water, nowhere, la petite mort — never
wins an argument.

"It's foreplay we're talking about here, chairman."
Just say it.

The rat picks up his own head
Tucks it under his arm
And returns to his seat,
"Nothing further, chairman"


13 December 2011

untitled 121320112028


the definitive experience
sulfur in the air of appearance 
you worked your adult life
to buy the car
flipped onto its roof
right there
the right hand of the highway
irreverent, filthy, fever fast
road flares draw your eye
keeps you away

the definitive appearance
keep truth at bay
sulfur in the air of experience
road flares and pay checks
car wrecks and committee chairs

you worked your adult life 
to buy a smile
speeding down
down
    (the first to nowhere)
to nowhere
forever
lasts forever
flipped onto its roof
down there
nowhere, there
forever
irreverent, filthy, fever fast
firefighters — uniform, pristine — peel back 
both driver's side doors, gut pillowy remains
pull out the body, put the body back on wheels

the definitive experience
sulfur 
the air of appearance.