Rochelle Owens: From “Solarpoetics,” (concluded) 16-26

                                                        [The following is the conclusion of Rochelle Owens’ major new alphabetic work, earlier sections of which have appeared previously in Poems and Poetics.]

16

Reading a word does not depend on the number

of letters it contains

*

The letter P  periodic  orbital 

biological compulsion 

like taste and thirst

and in your

Mammalian brain 

Lovely the pastoral scene

a graphic design 

green the volcanic hills 

the story

Of the shepherdess

In elaborate lettering

heat  cold  wind  water

a flow of menstrual

blood

17

The stereotype of a lone researcher

in a secluded lab--a science fiction trope

 

*

The letter Q  a quartet

in three dimensional space

the butcher  baker  shepherdess 

a solitary workwoman 

Ravenous her lidless eye

Counting letters  spelling

m e l l i f e r o u s  the animal flesh 

the flow of hormonal

forces

Blood in  blood out

From A to Z  a set of skills 

body of data  data

of body  gut  head  tail 

o b l i t e r a t e d

                         18

An experiment designed to control the brain 

--movements of limbs with colored lights

*

                        The letter R  under a red

violet light  an unknown figure

crouches over the earth

Where the air smells of poisoned rain

An unknown figure digs rows

of small holes  the temperature

of human skin  folds

in the ground 

The root of love  

Blood in  blood out

folds in the ground from front

to back from back to

front

19

 Electrical pokes regulate balance  direction

 currents moving neuron to neuron

*

The letter S  serpentine

the organ of sight  a pair of spherical

bodies in an orbit of the skull 

the eyes 

Nomads  wanderers

 

Take one step after

the other  here where you walk 

bones push to the

surface

A snarl of fibrous hairs drifting

In circles  chasms and fissures

in the earth   holes  gaps in a sequence

of events  laid down and eroded

away

   

                         20

Begin with a few humble ingredients  rice flour 

fruit and flowers

*

The letter T  near a tank

with a spigot stands the baker

collecting words  batter 

crumbs

Black mold  burnt rolls

Dead white the bakers lips

on his tongue a metallic

taste  more water

in the loaf 

Less flour used 

The story of the baker

A set of skills in sequential order

from A to Z    O wicked

world

   

                         21

All words may be reproduced  stored in a retrieval system

or transmitted in any form or by any means

 

*

                        The letter U  numberless 

tree stumps mark a sequence

of events  rows of

holes

Absence of a picture

A story of the solitary

workwoman long ago  an hour ago

only a minute  strolling in

autumnal leaves

Drifting in circles

And in your mammalian brain 

lovely the pastoral scene 

grain  grape  bread 

wine

                         22

Colors  forms  movement  all together an astonishing

neurological image

*

The letter V  gouged

into a stone floor  blood pushing

to the surface  zones of

inclusion  exclusion

Here where archeologists

Observe dimensions  between

victim and executioner  a gap  a fissure 

a hole that engulfs and

consumes  

Here where historians

Pouring coffee  organize

body of data  data of body  piles

of charred human and animal 

bones

23

Evolution is smart  clean  clear and simple

hungry or thirsty  eat  or drink

*

The letter W  when your

eyes move  the reading brain   

the act of reading  how tightly

the letters hold you

Wind  heat  cold  drought

Hot  exuberant  the butcher’s

pleasure  cutting  deboning  grinding

salt for the stew  salt

for the bread

Sings the poet maudite

From point A to Z  a set of skills

in sequential order  blood

and mud  chemical

molecular 

24

With sophisticated equipment scientists scrutinize

minutiae  gathering information

*

The letter X 

marks an unknown figure

behind an electric

fence

Patterns of animus

A skeletal frame

crouches over the earth

fingers spreading apart across

t h e  r u i n s c a p e 

Hidden among geometric forms 

                         a single bloodstained feather 

long ago  an hour ago 

only a minute

25

The two cortex regions operate independently

of each other  independent yet intertwined

*

The letter Y  yellow 

sulfurous  a plume of smoke 

work is a binding

obligation 

Looking to earn extra cash

Take one step after

the other  under an occult sky 

the hand of the butcher

lops off

Diseased parts   

Slapping flying insects  insects

far and near  hair and nails in the feces 

vulnerable flesh-eater  spiritual

carnivore

26

Ever-pinging networks  twenty-six letters of the alphabet 

asterik to zero hour

*

The letter Z  a sound

of a buzz saw  strange scars

on the sea bed  patterns

of animus

Written words lit up 

Hidden zigzags 

burned  buried  premonitions 

take one step after

the other 

Out of the hole of Baudelaire

When I in my youth

strolled in a blue wool dress

I strolled in a circle

of blue