"The
sun too shines into cesspools and is not polluted."
—Diogenes
On the cover
of a Science magazine
a rare image
disturbingly
informative
you stare down
pursing your lips your neck
to the side
plagued by doubt
a hologram
of the skeleton of a
horse--
I must not
jump-the-gun
*
The rapt reader stands
in the space of an enigma
the hidden contours
of raw data
*
Under a dead blue glow
a laboratory
technician observes
a configuration of
microbes
rapidly
zigzagging
zigzagging microbes
in a petri dish colonizing
dispersing
precise methodical
biological compulsion
*
O Maggie you wrecked my bed
then kicked me in the
head”
The love of logic
the logic of love I must not
jump the gun
*
ZIgzags of black lines
circles triangles
rectangles
subatomic particles
f
l o a
t i n g
on a computer screen
molecular the art
of nature amorphous the forms--
corkscrews of white
smoke
blinking in and out
the spiral tail of a
comet
charred bits of the
rat’s thigh
a dog gnawing a bone
*
Earth yields dandelion
yields lemon
trees moisture
and nutrients
a flow of hormonal
forces
amorous the greedy
seed
craving licking
nectar milk mucus
rhythmic the
ecstasy
carnal/spiritual
leaves and limbs
s
p r e
a d i
n g
u
n d u
l a t
i ng
on multiple screens
digital images the body
of the tapeworm
folding folding into itself
undulating
s e
g m e
n t i
n g
blowing kisses along
the digestive
tract folding
folding into
itself
u
n d u
l a t
i n g
s e
g m e
n t i
n g
Earth Air
Fire Water
*
An outline shapes
itself
playful the unborn
babe in its
amniotic sac
carnal/spiritual
*
Morning to
evening
evening to morning under
the mask
a smell of decay
eye scape ear scape
r u
i n s
c a p e
*
Your bulbous tongue
hangs like a drape
over your lip
the pulsating fissures
rapidly zigzagging
zigzagging fire ants
etch
maps of wrath and
anguish
a c
r o s
s
your martyred
blood-packed tongue
*
End to end a c r o s s
the triumphant
twenty-first
century
out of the digital age
through the gaps
of
your fingers the mute eyewitness
sees hanging in the sky
the skeleton of a horse
appear disappear
eye scape ear scape
r u
i n s
c a p e
*
“O Maggie you wrecked
my bed
then kicked me in the
head”
the love of logic
the logic of love I must not
jump the gun
*
A laboratory
technician
draws a circular
mark passing
her hands measuring
counting dividing
numbering the bones
skull neck
spinal column
yellow the bones
laid out like stage
props
one for the cat
chasing
a rat one for the dog gnawing
a bone
*
The universe contains
everything that
exists---biomorphic
geomorphic polymorphic
Earth Air
Fire Water
the universe
contracts
e x
p a n
d s
every day bears the data
disease famine
torture war
*
It is at dusk
when
through the gaps of
your fingers
you see peculiar forms
when an outline shapes
itself
appears
d i
s a p
p e a
r s
the stump of a tree
splits
vertical/horizontal
it is at dusk when
through the gaps of
your fingers
an old woman on
horseback
appears d
i s a
p p e
a r s
when through the gaps
of your fingers the
mute eye witness
sees hanging in the
sky
the skeleton of a
horse
appear d
i s a
p p e
a r
*
Evoking the rhythm
of
rhythm of spontaneous
changes
dead cells
clothe and feed the
flies
totem and taboo totem
and taboo work is a binding
obligation
blood in blood out
*
Rays of solar light
pass
through the dome of
your skull
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
flashes of solar light
illuminate prehistoric
forests
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the
flies
rays of solar light
pass through layers of
water
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
rays of solar light
pass through a barley
plant
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
beams of solar light
penetrate
volcanos glaciers deserts
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the
flies
rays of solar light
spiral into a mushroom
cloud
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
beams of solar light
break down concrete
walls
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
rays of solar light
burn through plastic
particles
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
flashes of solar light
split the sea of
plastic particles
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
beams of solar light
snake dance into
plastic particles
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
beams of solar light
break up dwarf storms
of plastic particles
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
flashes of solar light
spiral through plastic
particles
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
rays of solar light
pass through volcanic
hills
illuminate a
single
blood-stained feather
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
*
Out of the scientific
explosive realm the triumphant
twenty-first century
out of the digital age
every day bears the
data
black letters spell
r u
i n s
c a p e
author’s note. In this poem I embrace the title “Our
Ruinscape” with the joy of creating a bleak eye-space ear-space in which
bio-diversity, movement, competition, interaction, infector, infected,
prey and predator, snake-dance onto the white page.
Reverberations yes …
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