To begin ...

As the twentieth century fades out
the nineteenth begins
.......................................again
it is as if nothing happened
though those who lived it thought
that everything was happening
enough to name a world for & a time
to hold it in your hand
unlimited.......the last delusion
like the perfect mask of death

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Rochelle Owens: “Solarpoetics” from a work in progress




Wyh do we udnersntad a txet eevn fi the letetrs
aer in dsiordre        

* 

The letter A
like a membrane
melliferous the animal flesh
bread baking   butchery 

Alphabet of blood and ash
Litanie   incantation
from the back part of her throat
salt for the stew   salt
for the bread  

Sings the poet maudite 

When I in my youth
strolled in a blue wool dress
I strolled in a circle
of blue 

2 

The reading brain    the eyes moving constantly
while reading 

*
The letter B
when black letters of fire
patterns of animus across
the landscape  

The place in the distance 

Where the air
smells of poisoned rain
take one step after
the other 

Where you do not want to go 

An amalgam of words
in sequential order here where
you walk ahead   stop
raise your eyes  

3 

We identify only ten or twelve letters    quick jumps
three or four letters left and seven or eight letters right 

* 

The letter C circles
zigzags   animates the plaster
death cast   a solitary
workwoman then 

From the back part of her throat 

When I in my youth in a blue wool dress
I strolled among   maidens   monks
and birds   I strolled in wind 
cold and heat 

Across green volcanic hills 

There In shadows   haze   smoke
in three dimensional space
piles of charred human
and animal bones 

4 

The history of the neurology of reading
the existence of a visual center 

* 

The letter D whispered
in the dismal quarter where
absence of a picture   the green
volcanic hills 

Grain   grape   bread   wine 

The story of the shepherdess
staged and scripted sub-plots  there 
in a bucolic setting our lady grows 
out of a mound of dirt 

Her rose-bud mouth a crooked line 

A breast vein as thick as a finger
the wedding feast   bread and meat
yellow   sulfurous   a plume
of  smoke 

5 

Some written words lit up or hidden among
geometric forms 

* 

The letter E
elaborate the graphic design
chasms and fissures
in the earth 

Our lady grows out of rotting meat 

Sings the poet maudite
I in my youth   concealed and disguised
walked in three dimensional
space 

Heat   cold   wind   water 

Data  science
pain   fear   phobia   multimedia
exhibitions   photographic art   illustrations
the ritual of baking bread   

6 

Yeast spores are ubiquitous in air and on
the surface of grain 

* 

The letter F
the preserved body rotates  forms
sweet bacteria   then the skin
of the fingertips  

Chemical     molecular   where 

In a circle they joined hands 
ruiners and destroyers engulf and consume
victims and executioners ooze out
the urge  

Staged and scripted sub-plots 

Genesis to revelation
in elaborate letters   shift   twist and slant
disease   famine   torture   war
earth   air   fire   water 

7 

Everything begins in the retina
ten years of research on the reading brain 

*                           

The letter G a graphic design
sight   touch   listen   the sound
of grinding corn   the smell
of bread baking 

Then she brews tea over a fire 

There in reddish violet light
violet light    a jagged black line zigzags
a graphic design   the head covered
with a hood  

identity unknown    tree   rope   grain 

The air smells of smoked meat
his mouth waters   taste buds pulsate
from a gap   a fissure
a flow of hormonal forces


No comments: