Craig Foltz


Tarawera

heavy rain means the river will
rise. this temperature can not remain
unchanged forever. pause before
exploding. let’s go over the clues
one more time. all that remains is
a smooth rounded bitmap. the fountain
of broadband. opaline silica. enclosing
pools. how about we explode before
pausing. duncan has all the fun. kahikatea seeds
are dispersed in the original image. cropping
the auxiliary actions of birds. lava shapes
the stanchions of a freeway overpass. crater
got your tongue. every time you pull out
of the drive the world pixelates. try imagining
a lake without water. an image without
a graphical interface. this eruption is simply meant
to remind you we are floating. i’m picking
up my things now. the best day ever. golden
brown. nerve endings. ear to nose.
nose to mouth. mouth to.


Lindis Pass

the cotton its raining. find shelter in the willowy
ordnance then place us at the end of the sentence
you know. the one. it starts with a sleeping dog and ends
with the plopping hiss of repetition. repeat. re-paginate.
re-pattern. the same one you wore to our afternoon
training session. if you take the columns on the left
i’ll swivel in your pivot table. adjust the volume and scramble
up the banks of the ahuriri. turn over please. this is where
a saddle belongs. the beginning of the end is never the same
as the end of the end. the horizon is nothing more than a line.
lined. lining. linen. thread count. when you get    a moment
detach your limbs. re-imagine the clumps of tussock as infinite
verb phrases. for instance longslip mountain. that’s the piwakawaka
seeking you out not cinderella’s ghost. here’s a river and here’s a river
and here’s a river too. everything eventually
lands in the ocean.



Craig Foltz is an Auckland-based writer & multi-media visual artist whose work has appeared in numerous journals including: Ninth Letter, Octopus, Chicago Review, Denver Quarterly, and Sidebrow among others. He currently has a book of perforated poetry postcards (a collaboration with 51 photographers) out on Ugly Duckling Presse. You can find out more at www.craigfoltz.com

 
 
 
 
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