[A
continuation from earlier postings on Poems and Poetics of Rochelle Owens’ new masterwork.
(J.R.)]
In 1863 Beethoven’s body was exhumed for autopsy, the headremoved and the skull studied for medical research.
On the monumental screen
zigzags of black lines vertical/horizontalslashes of solar light
“OnLy DeAtH GiVeS LiFe MeAnInG”
The camera zooms and pans
the Proto-Ludwig Skulls every day
bears the data side by side
They number five
digital letters spell Viki Ludva
Hludwig Ludia Ludek
The laboratory technician
peels off her surgical gloves work
is a binding obligation
Black and hot my coffee
*
“The Universe is very big and objects
entirely misunderstood”
Before Rome became
Roman in a zone diverging from
the course of events
Out of the coldness
and darkness of the Gothic Soul
out of the dominion
Of rigid geometry
Metal hammered into relief
metal into money digital letters spell
Helmet Weapons Warfare 2
The camera zooms
and pans a bearded warrior on a coin
‘Shoot you Cut you Stomp you’
No balm in Gilead
Black and hot my coffee
*
“A hot iron that burns in my pocket”
Molecular the skin’s mind
moving back and forth a post card
lavished with kisses
And doused with tears
‘A man is a two-face
a troublesome thing who will
lead you to sing
The blues in the night‘
A goat smile on your lips
No balm in Gilead
Black and hot my coffee
*
“Music is like a dream, one that I cannot hear”
On the video screen
a latent image appears disappears
a broken geometric form
The facial skeleton
of Beethoven delicate the bones
of the inner ear
The camera zooms and
pans a cello a harp a violin 3
a wooden spoon
Beethoven in ecstasy
Banging a wooden spoon
humming singing and whistling
banging a wooden spoon
Deaf to cellos harps violins
Beethoven in ecstasy
Banging a wooden spoon
his genius breath blowing kisses
banging a wooden spoon
Beethoven in ecstasy
Banging a wooden spoon
biting his tongue screaming
banging a wooden spoon
Deaf to flutes oboes clarinets
Beethoven in ecstasy
Banging a wooden spoon
his martyred blood-packed tongue
banging a wooden spoon
Deaf to horns trumpets trombones
Beethoven in ecstasy
Banging a wooden spoon
leading the royal wedding march
banging a wooden spoon
Deaf to drums cymbals bells
Beethoven in ecstasy
Banging a wooden spoon
holding the Queen in his arms
banging a wooden spoon 4
Deaf to gongs castanets maracas
Beethoven in ecstasy
Banging a wooden spoon
laughing singing and cursing
banging a wooden spoon
He makes a fist phallus
No balm in Gilead
Black and hot my coffee
*
“Where of one cannot speak, there of
one must be silent”
Rising up and down
counting repetitions of chair squats
inhaling exhaling
Perfect numbers
Perfect numbers and
our need for proof inhaling exhaling
the camera zooms and pans
The Ludwig Skulls
Every day bears the data
side by side they are two the dome
of the skull sawed in half
The jawbone hinging unhinging
Cursing Howling Singing
No balm in Gilead
Black and hot my coffee
*
“Evolution is smart clean clear and simple 5
hungry or thirsty eat or drink”
An outline shapes itself shapes itself out of skull fragments
shapes itself like a puzzle
Out of Skull fragments
Twenty-two bones each successive bone splits
vertical/horizontal
Out of cranial bones
Forty-four bones each
successive bone splits vertical/
horizontal
Out of skull fragments
Sixty-six bones each
successive bone splits vertical/
horizontal
Out of cranial bones
Eighty-eight bones each
successive bone splits vertical/
horizontal
Out of skull fragments
One hundred seventy-six
bones each successive bone splits
vertical/horizontal
Black and hot my coffee
*
“Only art and science can raise men to
the level of God”
Out of the coldness 6 and darkness of the Gothic Soul
out of the dominion
Of geometric rigidity
digital letters spell ‘The Sons of God’
every day bears the data
Side by side they are two
Beethoven Wittgenstein
the camera zooms and pans
zigzags of black lines
Vertical/horizontal
The dome of the skull
sawed in half the jawbone hinging
unhinging
Cursing Howling Singing
No balm in Gilead
Black and hot my coffee
*
“By ‘life’ we mean a thing that can nourish
itself and grow and decay”
Skin and hair shed
dead cells and dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
The laboratory technician
pulls on her surgical gloves work is
a binding obligation
A set of skills in sequential order splicing cutting
grafting data of body
Body of data
Black bile yellow bile 7
mucus blood the shape of the head
the size of the skeleton
Vertical/horizontal
Multilayered manipulated
images a hand a knuckle a foot
scrotum and pudenda
Wedding bells Wedding cake
The camera zooms
and pans a breast vein as thick
as a finger
A montage of bite marks
Playful the unborn babe
in its amniotic sac carnal/spiritual
moving back and forth
Death strapped into riding boots
No balm in Gilead
Black and hot my coffee
*
“Human experience from the center
to the margins”
In a bucolic setting
sound waves enter your ears
ornamental letters spell
Music & Storytelling
A latent image appears
disappears the camera zooms
and pans worms and bat droppings
Amorous the greedy seed
A pale green lily 8
emerges from the mud deformed
diseased devouring
Carnal/spiritual
No balm in Gilead
Black and hot my coffee
*
“I shall seize fate by the throat, It will never
bend me completely to its will.”
Your bloated tongue and
blood-packed eyes your hand
balled into a fist
‘I love a tree more than a man’
Moisture and nutrients
flow in your brain Earth Air Fire Water
seized with jittery energy
You must find the demon
In everything Inhaling exhaling
perfect numbers each bone
Splits vertical/horizontal
Inhaling exhaling perfect numbers
and our tiny galaxy
Counting fragments of bone
No balm in Gilead
Black and hot my coffee
*
“To imagine a language is to imagine
a form of life”
Every day bears the data
dead cells clothe and feed the flies 9
Earth Air Fire Water
Molecular the skin’s mind
moving back and forth back to front
to back digital letters spell
Lament Heartbreak Genius
God Suicide
No balm in Gilead
Black and hot my coffee
*
“The human body is the best picture of
the human soul”
The laboratory technician
peels off her surgical gloves work
is a binding obligation
No balm in Gilead
Black and hot my coffee
*
“Applaud my friends, the comedy is over!”
On the monumental screen
zigzags of black lines vertical/horizontal
ornamental letters spell
Melancholy Passion Death
In a triangle of solar light
two bright ovals appear disappear
digital letters spell
Beethoven Wittgenstein
Inhaling exhaling
perfect numbers perfect numbers 10
and our need for proof
The dome of the skull
sawed in half The Universe contracts
e x p a n d s
Blood in blood out
Earth Air Fire Water
The R U I N S C A P E appears disappears
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