John Martone


               from





                                                                           destrue te totum 

want heart to 
be 

light as 
feather

when that 
day comes 

º

television show

took my father’s 
watch apart 

this is your life 
in pieces 

º

miniaturist

I carve 
small pieces 
of bone 

lent is my 
favorite 
season

º

sun and me 
move along at 
the same time 

º

the sun does 
its morning 

shovel work 
and I mine 

º 

sun in a bare tree my joy 








2.

Im Westen Nichts Neues

forgetful he watches the sun set over a man-made lake 








3.

I’m waiting for a book with broken pages 

º 

it’s not too late for silence 

º

sede in cella quasi in paradiso

they name the cell after a cell 
the body is a welcoming space 

º

the psalter 
lies open 

º

the lettering      
          almost too small to read           
                    almost 

º

a string 
of letters

threads 
the needle 

º 

the page is an animal 

º

no idea 
where the book 
I wanted 
to copy 
walked off to 

º 

I cut my finger cutting a quill 

º

the unknowing 
eyes fail
a cloud-
less sky 

John Martone continues to produce small editions of his work under the Tufo imprint (most recently That One) and to plant trees.

 
 

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