Bob Kotyk


RIVER WALKERS
 
You’re hearing
The sweet
Derangement
Of the
Snow owl
Looking down
On silent
Streaming
Dogs
Pulse
Over
The
Sideways
Valley
Toward
The
Lunging
Lurching
River walkers
Thin
Beaks
Bent
Green grey
Jack pine
Starlight
Skies
A chest
Between
Hand
Pollinated
Airwaves
Taking sips
From
Brown nettles
In straw
Jugs
Many journeys
Faraway large
Forest
Situations
Shadow slant
Dirt-specked
Feather
Foreheads
Craning
From the
Invisible
State
Below the
Final
Particle tally
Diviners
Of the
Long
Beat
Dogs
On the eye
Beam
Traversing
The permanent
Section
To the
Firelight
Nearby
Animal skitters
And warm
Meal smells
The owl
Descends
Vision combs
The encampment
Zeroes in
Dogs growling
On the
Bypass
Probing beeps
Sleeping in
Small tents
Hide beds
Ten or
More
Sets
Of clothes
On the floor
Amid a
Chant
Dance
Dark
Wing flicker
Plinth
Sunrise
Salmon
Pink
Streak
Then rising
Movement
Begins
Toward
Loam
Drizzle
Wind
Hillock
Flame
Eye
Filament
Nest
Cradle
Skyward
Mound
Home



ASESSIPPI

The gurgling
Waters
Of the
Dishwashing
Tar
Rapids
Speak a
Language
All their
Own
But when you
Drink the
The nasty
Yellow stuff
Fermented
Killer
Bee
Pee
With
Russell
Shellmouth
And his
Parents
You can
Hear
“The Vegetable
Crisper’s
Lament”
In a glorious
New translation
By a quaint
Albeit constantly
Bickering
Married couple
From
Brandon
I’ll spare
You
The details
It was
Some
Years later
That I received
A call
From
Russell
His father
Had recently
Passed
Here
He said
In Asessippi
With Codi-Lee
I’ve been
Drinking
The amber
Filth
You know
The kind
And we
Wanted to
Ask you
About your
Weird
Salvation
Songs
I demurred
At first
But after
Some prodding
Let rip
With a
Tune as
Blighted
And corrosive
As some
Of that
Insect piss
From the
Cloudy
Jars
Russell
Was quiet
Then said
You know
There’s always
Been something
About you
That was
Capable of
Something
Like that
Thank you
I said
I’m sorry
About
Your dad
Ah shit
He said
And took
A swig
Of the
Honey
Swill
We knew
Something
Was off
When a
Neighbour noticed
There were
Newspapers
Piled up
At his door
Dad never
Missed a
Paper
How many
I asked
Three
He said
And took
Another swig
Of the 
Godforsaken
Liquor
All
Three papers
Were 
Covering
What’s been
Going on
With the
Invisible
Blasting
Marvels
He said
It’s all
Anyone can 
Talk about
I understand
I said
It’s all
I can think
About
Right now
Too
And I’ve
Been
Ordered
Sideways
Merchant
Phantom
Modal
Fallow
Shiver
Bidder
The cold
Plight
Of the
Panda 
Digging
Downstairs
The morose
The buttered-up
The regulated
The all-consumed
I’ve uttered
I’ve been
And I’ve
Seen
The silver
Trials
The inner
Ear
Tracts
What we 
Do now
With you
Yo-yos
In this
Furnace
Runner’s
Paradise
The making
Of a new
Lantern
Box
Shining
Pinwheel
Jumper
Friend
Pushing
Asunder
Take the
Loose
Finished
Beams
The crisscrossing
Zero
Undulations
The loss
And filling
Stuffs
In and
Around
You’ll see
That I’ll be
And us two
And us three
We’ll find out
And know
The right way
To go

Bob Kotyk is a writer and filmmaker living in Toronto. He co-wrote the screenplay for Guy Maddin's The Forbidden Room, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015. His poetry appeared in Otoliths issues 61, 64, and 67.

 
 

previous page     contents     next page