Pam Brown

(stasis shuffle)

i have nothing to say
   &  
      i'm saying it

famous words      (as they say) 
                       from  john cage
&
i said it       this morning
              at the cafe 
           with friends – 

poets —

one whose strategy is to retire 
from poetry 
            that is         to perform
the announcement
  of her retirement
whenever 
     she is invited to participate
in a poetry reading
                            in the future

— we saw her do it 
               last week
  at a poetry venue - 
at sappho's -

it seemed hilarious
                          & 
                          sensible

              *

this afternoon 
                        i shuffle
      in my room's stasis

from flux until sunrise
  to after desire 
           to heteronomy
needing a beginning
                           for a  poem

i could 
     re-use some lines
          from fake double sonnets,
free-associated 
                          a while ago  —
perhaps
not

making poetry
  used to be
     a partially secret life
                  not secretive
                     but private

              *

the other night        
      at the reading
             everyone
seemed to be under pressure
              to be 'experimental'
& 
each to be differently 'experimental'
              from the other
to be cleverer
                  or wittier or funnier
or more cool
or just more far out

            who's the furtherest ?

(isn't po mo over now
           everything’s post po mo)

listening to the 'experiments'
     i realised
  there's nothing funny 
               about comedy
               that misery can't cure

               *

i found myself
                  lost

what is it 
      that i came here for again?

            last week
  at piccolo cafe
        a friend recommended
                      'aesthetic trauma'

yesterday
        someone told me
you don't look 70
    you should try 
                  growing up

hah!
                              i look 70
(70 + )



(fundamental)

make a distinction
         between imagery
                      & reality

note
the special character
       of human empathy
          in interactive life 

 skin deep
         in science
            slurpees
&
the little book of calm 

              *                               

crude ‘bio’ solutions
                non techno
                a-scientific

air dropping
        poisoned sausages
             to kill feral cats

              *

in the meatspace days
                of home movies
             & surround sound
 you fell for 
                  analog signals
                
twice too often

a little glitch
          involving
a hyper modern
        infomercial hack
&
you rejected
          digital currency
&
         design software

it was
all 
retronymical

               everything’s
              different now

now
you 
bluesky the content —

you just throw stuff
          up on the storyboard

it’s insane  it’s fast 
                        it’s fun

&
short lines
            get you
to the next day
         evolution
            leads to



(dingaling byways)

curled up
sort of spongily
         little bit sleepy
on a quilted ottoman

              *

             ding-a-ling

  friendly greetings

               *

not a problem

       you’re lying down
                         in
                  a state
       art institution

               *

his royal highness
            watercolours
            stuck 
       in an underlit corridor
             between the foyer
                      & the toilets

in the toilets
         the basin soap 
     dispenses
     murky patchouli

               *
         
this is the way
the portal works

               *

drifting through
creaking parquet 

              *

free
screening         theatrette

    no advance bookings
           no babes in arms
latecomers not admitted

               *

                  prime time's
                      grotesque
                     flash back

narcissism
gives the script
an antic energy

            gina lollobrigida
                kept her films
                   in the fridge

solomon & sheba
next to dog food
beat the devil
with wilting celery

               *

was
the limited theatre of thunder
            the worst super8 film
                                       ever ?

               *

a few
       stock phrases

ironic echo
watching
paint dry

   no holds barred     
   rare sequel
   tour de force

digital by-ways

               *

crummy canteen
       puky tongue
       &     hungry

could do with
 an avalanche
 of breakfasts

you know
her royal highness
                 duchess
    pops her muesli
         on instagram

(we are not 
     a muesli)

                *

designeries’
semiospherics —

spots of blood
on toned hybrid
   custom fabric

‘small mirror
 large in imagination’

three purple
  hair dryers
blow hot air

                some kind
                of modish
                 sculpture

exit feedback
win a trip to athens
   in a dozen words
                 or fewer
tell us
about your visit  —

on a scale
of one to ten         
     everyone loves
           a greek fret

Pam Brown, a dedicated amateur, has published many books - most recently click here for what we do (Vagabond Press, 2018). She is a Sydneysider living on Gadigal land.
 
 
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