Michael Rothenberg
POSTCARDS
Another Pretty Rd.
Big Spring snowflakes
Like tears on the windshield
Dog & pony show on radio
Election hypnosis. Vultures on Wall St.
Bringing the master home
*
She suffers from
An entymologist’s bug-eyed delusion
Taxonomic pin-cushion hat
She’s looking out for number 1
Number 1a, 1b and c
*
“I want a sympathetic life/ Anonymous as rain”
The Piano Man sings
While I look for sleeping pills
In a slither of imaginary noodles
What have I lost?
*
I don’t want to visit anyone or say hello
Carrier shell in “word ocean”
Camouflage of “odd valves and bivalves”
Subject, construction, metaphor, allegory
A hastily constructed heaven
DAY TRIP
The world is always prettier after lunch
Orange and yellow starfish
In tide pools at Cape Perpetua
Devil’s Churn
Sea-foam green anemone
Spruce, fir, agate beach
Cross a drift wood bridge
Balance regained after a stumble
A false star is swept into the drumming
Hollows of a sea lion cave
Dark into dark
Raging song of the true sun. . .
Never turn your back on the sea!
EL FIN DEL MUNDO 2008
Steve’s eggplant parmesan sandwich picnic
on a beach towel spread out on the plush carpet
in front of the television set
At the Jockey Club condo in Miami
“Where are you little star?”
---------------------------
In outerspace the wrecked eye
of a spy satellite turned towards earth
where a navy ship is positioned
with tactical missile
ready to blow it out of the sky
Star Wars!
-----------------------------------
Sunglasses, pencil sharpener
Things that matter
(Not some dusty old reputation)
Mayakovsky or Cupid crawling
through my beard
I’m off to see The Wizard
-----------------------------------
To find my composition in a frame
-----------------------------------
“The first star I see tonight”
Star claims a sovereign light
Bribes, bullies, blackmails
Bends you over to make a point
Self-Glorification her inspiration
Her career!
-------------------------------
Any one of these steps done poorly
ruins the whole thing
Oh, my broken back!
(Any excuse for addiction, malevolence
Malediction!)
--------------------------------------
A poorly drawn apple is a weak statement
--------------------------------------------------------
I accept the mantle
But The Star always feels threatened
Screams about a fox in the henhouse
The cow jumps over the moon
The skylight leaks
Mantle speaks
The project moves forward
-------------------------------
Roast pork, plantanos, yucca, black beans and rice
Cuban bread toasted on the grill
Walk around Young Circle looking for Art
Bums not allowed to sleep in the park
See those dancing waters by the Baobab Tree!
You could call that art
-------------------------------------
The songs, the drums, the stars
News in Espanol
Murders all over town
The movies not over
-----------------------------------
Tragic Star!
Here she comes (again) with her spoiled brat vanity
Her Narcissistic insanity
Mis-appropriation of a legacy
She fears a sudden eclipse
It’s time to speak out
Her pain is hurting POETRY
“Mine, mine, mine!” she says
----------------------------------
Diagnosis:
If you replace the esophagus with stomach
You can still live
Though nothing is guaranteed
This is a political fact
----------------------------------
Disappearance is easy
It reappearance that’s hard! (fuck’s you up)
See The Star’s new clothes!
No fire just skin and bone
-----------------------------------
Propaganda:
Even if I’ve got it on automatic drive
Put everything I’ve ever imagined down on the page
Jump from one line to another with breathless shame
Expose my furry self as a pushy Jew
The buck stops here
February 1-23, 2008
ANOTHER DAY TRIP
Jangled morning rush hour traffic wakes me 6am
An obsessive loop of The Star terrors
In my dreams
She runs with me over the Oregon dunes
The best of friends we don’t confuse
Sex with intimacy
2 pills knock me out until 10:28 am
Wake up
A banana muffin and bad coffee
Go to Portland flea market
Take photos of falafel, Philly cheese steak
A poetry editor in various pornographic
Positions. Eating my heart out
March 28-30
Michael Rothenberg is a poet and editor of Big Bridge magazine online at www.bigbridge.org. His poetry books include Nightmare Of The Violins, Man/Woman, a collaboration with Joanne Kyger, Favorite Songs, The Paris Journals, Monk Daddy, Grown Up Cuba, and Unhurried Vision. He is also editor for the Penguin Poet series, which includes selected works of Philip Whalen, Joanne Kyger, David Meltzer and Ed Dorn. He has recently completed the Collected Poems of Philip Whalen for Wesleyan University Press.
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POSTCARDS
Another Pretty Rd.
Big Spring snowflakes
Like tears on the windshield
Dog & pony show on radio
Election hypnosis. Vultures on Wall St.
Bringing the master home
*
She suffers from
An entymologist’s bug-eyed delusion
Taxonomic pin-cushion hat
She’s looking out for number 1
Number 1a, 1b and c
*
“I want a sympathetic life/ Anonymous as rain”
The Piano Man sings
While I look for sleeping pills
In a slither of imaginary noodles
What have I lost?
*
I don’t want to visit anyone or say hello
Carrier shell in “word ocean”
Camouflage of “odd valves and bivalves”
Subject, construction, metaphor, allegory
A hastily constructed heaven
DAY TRIP
The world is always prettier after lunch
Orange and yellow starfish
In tide pools at Cape Perpetua
Devil’s Churn
Sea-foam green anemone
Spruce, fir, agate beach
Cross a drift wood bridge
Balance regained after a stumble
A false star is swept into the drumming
Hollows of a sea lion cave
Dark into dark
Raging song of the true sun. . .
Never turn your back on the sea!
EL FIN DEL MUNDO 2008
Steve’s eggplant parmesan sandwich picnic
on a beach towel spread out on the plush carpet
in front of the television set
At the Jockey Club condo in Miami
“Where are you little star?”
---------------------------
In outerspace the wrecked eye
of a spy satellite turned towards earth
where a navy ship is positioned
with tactical missile
ready to blow it out of the sky
Star Wars!
-----------------------------------
Sunglasses, pencil sharpener
Things that matter
(Not some dusty old reputation)
Mayakovsky or Cupid crawling
through my beard
I’m off to see The Wizard
-----------------------------------
To find my composition in a frame
-----------------------------------
“The first star I see tonight”
Star claims a sovereign light
Bribes, bullies, blackmails
Bends you over to make a point
Self-Glorification her inspiration
Her career!
-------------------------------
Any one of these steps done poorly
ruins the whole thing
Oh, my broken back!
(Any excuse for addiction, malevolence
Malediction!)
--------------------------------------
A poorly drawn apple is a weak statement
--------------------------------------------------------
I accept the mantle
But The Star always feels threatened
Screams about a fox in the henhouse
The cow jumps over the moon
The skylight leaks
Mantle speaks
The project moves forward
-------------------------------
Roast pork, plantanos, yucca, black beans and rice
Cuban bread toasted on the grill
Walk around Young Circle looking for Art
Bums not allowed to sleep in the park
See those dancing waters by the Baobab Tree!
You could call that art
-------------------------------------
The songs, the drums, the stars
News in Espanol
Murders all over town
The movies not over
-----------------------------------
Tragic Star!
Here she comes (again) with her spoiled brat vanity
Her Narcissistic insanity
Mis-appropriation of a legacy
She fears a sudden eclipse
It’s time to speak out
Her pain is hurting POETRY
“Mine, mine, mine!” she says
----------------------------------
Diagnosis:
If you replace the esophagus with stomach
You can still live
Though nothing is guaranteed
This is a political fact
----------------------------------
Disappearance is easy
It reappearance that’s hard! (fuck’s you up)
See The Star’s new clothes!
No fire just skin and bone
-----------------------------------
Propaganda:
Even if I’ve got it on automatic drive
Put everything I’ve ever imagined down on the page
Jump from one line to another with breathless shame
Expose my furry self as a pushy Jew
The buck stops here
February 1-23, 2008
ANOTHER DAY TRIP
Jangled morning rush hour traffic wakes me 6am
An obsessive loop of The Star terrors
In my dreams
She runs with me over the Oregon dunes
The best of friends we don’t confuse
Sex with intimacy
2 pills knock me out until 10:28 am
Wake up
A banana muffin and bad coffee
Go to Portland flea market
Take photos of falafel, Philly cheese steak
A poetry editor in various pornographic
Positions. Eating my heart out
March 28-30
Michael Rothenberg is a poet and editor of Big Bridge magazine online at www.bigbridge.org. His poetry books include Nightmare Of The Violins, Man/Woman, a collaboration with Joanne Kyger, Favorite Songs, The Paris Journals, Monk Daddy, Grown Up Cuba, and Unhurried Vision. He is also editor for the Penguin Poet series, which includes selected works of Philip Whalen, Joanne Kyger, David Meltzer and Ed Dorn. He has recently completed the Collected Poems of Philip Whalen for Wesleyan University Press.
posted by mark young at 12:19 PM
1 Comments:
WOW!
Nice sleek!
Poems
I just want to say how much I enjoyed them.
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