for days that old dream
like a window on an
unimagined landscape
& the sun about to rise
same bassist
40 years ago
Body & Soul
Dans l'intérieur
1.
dans l'intérieur la rue
runs backward curving
slightly to the left forming
an ovoid of indistinguishable
dimensionality des étoiles
étingués
be serious, mon ami,
les
merveilles sont ainsi
vacuous as eyes
2.
behind the door
a road curves through
what might be a field
or dune
tundra
but the moon
is down...
archangel of fire enwraps
now melts glaciers
turf unexposed
for aoens now trembles
naked
under a vengeful sun
Look!
the green ice
flickers out
O look
like a great star
the color
we are
shifts in the heavens
meet & mate
tribal hate
blind
cruelty older
than cro
magnon
splinters
bone
makes rubble
of
the shapes
time
so slowly
built
all to dust
all
splintered
brick & bone
bright
leverage
this laughter
lifts
the cornerstone
(the edifice is pain)
the crystal
(he held it)
never stops
reflecting
doesn't
get tired
(he turned it
caught
the
light, replaced it)
in a bowl of rice
his hands
trembled
slightly
break camp?
or leave it
as is?
for whoever
comes this way
[Aug. 3, 2002]
Les Etoiles
who spilled the popcorn
@ the cosmic drive-in
&
what's playing
anyway?
If the suite
don't suit
take a seat.
No sweat.
I'm splitting.
Outa sight!
the crystal bee
peers out of a glass hive
sniffs air
smells white
crocus. Snow.
For Chino Roshi
gone
to hang with Philip?
share quips or koans
play your shakuhachi
under a different
tree
The Concert
young groomed &
flawless
no idea what's up
or shaggy & drink
in hand
2.
outside
it's going to hell
dogs of war baying
@ a gibbous moon
3.
It's good.
They're young and healthy.
I hope they're rich.
in here
American music,
in here
no war
in here
no market going down
A-
mer
ikan MU
sic , you dig
in here
only love
& loss
voyager
step easy
into this
ship it means
no harm
sweet
traveller no
room in yr
bright life
for this
bitterness
this un
ease step
aboard fine
warrior
feel
the ropes
strain hear
the wind
PHILIP WHALEN'S MEMORIAL
1.
Phil had the best painkillers:
fried chicken & wine—
There's tryptophane in chicken.
2.
Trifles
FRAG-
GILE, in sensible
shoes breath-
less or hearty
what would you make of us?
FRED
is that music???
3.
Flowering plums, those
red leaves last
petals on dirty
slabs of pavement
yr watery pale
eyes peering thru
the branches
At the sky?
Or the day you asked
are there buds on the
bare branches yet?
4.
Leslie
carnelian
choker gives the lie
to all that — is it? —
shyness
5.
Friends Read for Philip
gallant
in old age
still
up
right
shiny eyes
autumn
tearing it up
outside
6.
"FORM IS FOR CRYSTALS" — P.W.
"Right behind you"
Hold the door
wd you?
[Aug 30, 2002]
Chino Roshi
dark rendezvous
in a shallow pool
she called. you came.
DR. JOHN AT YOSHI'S, 2002
dark sea
flacks of light, bubbles
of breath
swish of whose
tail in these thick
waters? dark
sea, & viscous
the
invitation à voyage
sinister
star light
casts such thin
shadows
on this
mud. . . .
where
go?
outward is
so glib, easy, padre
&
meaningless —
dark
sea, dig it.
offers
sinuous
ripple in
these walking
trees nomad
offer:
b l o o d Voyage
what falls
from those mourning
planets
onto
the penetrable
ground?
ceru-
le an:
tender
as the heart
of a storm .
Longetivity:
worth it
if I can
right it.
write it.
rite it.