þÿ<html> <head> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0"> <meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> <title>14 Things to Do Before Friday</title> <style> <!-- p.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-top:0in} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} span.MsoCommentReference {} a { font-size : 12pt; font-family : courier new; font-weight: bold; font-style : normal; text-align : normal; text-decoration : bold; color :#000000; hover{text-decoration:none; cursor:default} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-top:0in} h2 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"courier new"; color:windowtext; font-weight:bold; margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-top:0in} h4 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"courier new"; color:windowtext; font-weight:bold; margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-top:0in} span.MsoFootnoteReference {vertical-align:super} h3 {margin:5.0pt 0in; punctuation-wrap:simple; text-autospace:none; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:courier new; color:black; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic; } span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} --> </style> </head> <body> <font face="Courier New">&nbsp;</font></p> <a name="Aping the Formulae and Conventions of Typical Record Companies to Sell the Atypical Records">Aping the Formulae and Conventions of Typical Record Companies to Sell the Atypical Records</a></font></b></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">The poem, resilient as a child, making</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">its own way takes the road less traveled in fact! nobody's</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">been here in thousands of years. Here's a stream of flack, and</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">here's a bedspread where your mother gave birth (pediatrician was a saber-toothed</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">tiger). I want my poetry!</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I want my poetry, Dr. Tiger.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">If you make-a the machines, I wanna have the beans</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">to trade for the cow please.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">It's a poem you know where the beard</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">falls off and the stars in the teeth crannies</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">are harmoniously sashaying in order for us to choose</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">the mellow wall to mend with licked fingers.</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Perhaps you will be challenged by liquor advertisers</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">wanting to poison children. Or maybe the cigarette </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">behind your ear has wormed its way round to be smoked- smoke! </font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I cannot say cannot say because the poem is</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">saying everything as unusual. Thus hand in my I am Fired</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">and the Mouth Almighty disbanded. It was a good run. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Now if you'll excuse me, says the Poem, waiting to be written.</font></p><br> _________________________________________________</span><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><font face="Times New Roman" font size="5"><a name="Bush Rant for Pedro Pietri><b>Bush Rant for Pedro Pietri</b></a><br><br></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="right"><font face="Times New Roman" font size="2"> January 10, 2004<br> <br> I think<br> There<br> 4 am<br> -- Kai Kraus<br> <br> March 3, 2004<br> Help me<br> I can see<br> --Rev. Pedro Pietri <br> (& nobody else)<br></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Time New Roman" font size="2"> It is late<br> How late<br> Ask me later<br> <br> How much later<br> How much longer later lasts<br> The part of dawn<br> <br> What part does dawn play?<br> Well, it brings about the yawn of dawn<br> And "The part of dawn," as in "the haircut of dawn"<br> <br> As in BUT where weapons of mass disbombbation go?<br> The biologicallips debalm weapons-a must be round<br> Here somewhere! When somewhere is Iraq, we<br> <br> Held our breath that Saddam's killer commando scifi's<br> Wouldn't rise out of Baghdad perimeter, kill our boys<br> With anthrax, beeswax, blister attacks. Believed Bush<br> Reconn"ass"ance. Where were they? At auction: Peace Sign (in oil)<br> <br> The trip to Mars the screwing of the infants<br> How late will it last how much later longer<br> The economy's better, how come I'm still outta work?<br> <br> Washington, January 9, 2004 (AP) Paul O'Neil, who<br> Was pushed out of the administration as Treasury <br> Secretary because it was felt he was not a team <br> Player, says President Bush was so disengaged<br> During Cabinet meetings that he was like a "blind<br> Man in a roomful of deaf people"...<br> <br> He (Bush) fall asleep lullaby bomb bomb<br> He (Bush) follow converservativation out to bathroom<br> He (Bush) not gonna speak to no German chancellor, naw!<br> Condaleeza: Well you got to sometime. Don't make<br> Me! I'm just noodging, George. You're pushing!<br> <br> The world clump of ideas awaiting sunrise<br> George yawns blow up Baghdad and Let<br> There be light! A Zippo to the ass of Viet Nam<br> <br> Aircraft carrier waddle Bushit shadow Texas<br> It is late How late later latest <br> Lateness on hold George Gorge Valley Forge<br> Porgie Orgy Forger Gorger Self-congratulatory<br> <br> Shaggy dog story Hit em hurts w/ orange alerts<br> Lost yr shirt in the pervert dirt<br> Wine and dine us Yr Highness <br> With the lies that institutionalize, Scandalize<br> <br> The Liberation that Enslaves, the economy<br> Is improving don't Halliburton me! Election!<br> Did someone say four more neverending nahnahs hosannahs bananas<br> <br> Oh nono No way-o Convey-o the mayo<br> Where's the right ditch lightswitch, spite bitch?<br> Election time, Dad. The screaming infants.<br> <br> Rifles for veils, missiles for splints, mines for patios<br> Any body part will do for teddy bear, flag, hammer<br> Absurdity youth death, democracy of silence<br> <br> The whole world is watching in utter disbelief<br> The leakage today is that Bush plans for bombing<br> Predated 9/11 Late to late to later too late<br> The distant clank of change animate<br> It is not too late Not too late Liberate<br> <br> It's not too late Eviscerate slime snake<br> Eradicate the Potentate served on a molten plate<br> It isn't fate Elucidate Debate Debate<br> Inaugurate some other straight<br> <br> It's time to say shush to Bush<br> Shushtobush Shushtobush Shushtobush<br> <br> He'll disappear -- Was never here<br> This much is clear -- that as we jeer<br> We can win -- Played on a violin <br> & a mandolin -- by a manikin<br> <br> Humans, vote him out! So we can hang out!<br> Hooray for Peace! For Harmony! Democracy! Hipocracy!<br> How could we have been so dumb? Florida's shaped like a gun!<br> Por favor no hibernate! When the primary's in your state!<br> Participate! Ejaculate on the State! Regurgitate what they legislate!<br> Clean your plates! Please don't be late! Hallucinate! The United States!<br> Bush will at long last be gone! And I can stop this song!<br> But until then! I'll sing it again!<br> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> _________________________________________________</span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><b><font face="Courier New"> <a name="Cara mia!!">“Cara mia!!”</a></font></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New"> Yes, that was a Top of the Toodle to Yodel Mit Poodle and I'm heading back to do it "again" (nb, </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">darling, there is no such thing as "again") at 8 for the Melies screening...</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Yr date is Tues Mar 9 at 10pm. Stefan Zeniuk is organizing zeniuk@yahoo.com and both he and</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Sascha will be in touch with you re: deal etails and sound.</font></p> <br><br><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Meanwhile, carry on! Actually,</font></p><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">may I carry you on?</font></p><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Love</font></p><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Bob</font></p><br> _________________________________________________</span></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Time New Roman" font size="2"> <a name="Cry cry cry or crycrycry?"><b>Cry cry cry or crycrycry?</b></a></font></p> <br> Rolling on the floor<br> In your imaginative work of sitting and talking<br> Preparing a glass of water and I am storming out of the room<br> Out of your life out the window out the body tree edge<br> Of earth crycry rollroll mindmind movemove byebye<br> <br> _________________________________________________</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><b><font face="Courier New"> <a name="September 11 Every Day">September 11 Every Day</a></font></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">World is being led by a dumb monkey</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">A stupid monkey name of George who cheated and we let him</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">& we're so smart we use Birth Control so there are fewer of us</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">& the Fundamentalists can have the big families &</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">just take over the world</font></p> <br> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> _________________________________________________</span><br> <br> <font face="verdana" font size="5"> <a name="For You, When You Are Rebecca">For You, When You Are Rebecca</a> </font></b></p> <font face="verdana" font size="2"><br> All the words rearranging themselves the chairs<br> Having been so uncomfortable must be art!<br> Now you say you want to actually sit in them.<br> The chairs reply something Form and something <br> Something else Function. Like a menu: <br> Such delightful meal that you eat <br> And though you are hungry now<br> You will never be hungry again.<br> Go ahead. Sit, rest. Eat, sleep.<br> _________________________________________________</span><br><br><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Times New Roman" font size="5"><a name="Inside the Synagogue is Mars. Inside Mars is Your Apartment.">Inside the Synagogue is Mars.<br> Inside Mars is Your Apartment.</a></b><br></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="right"><font face="Times New Roman" font size="2"> A poem for the opening of Angel Orensanz's <br> installation, "Flying NASA Lab," 1/15/04<br> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Time New Roman" font size="2"> You land on Mars and you're never coming back<br> It looks like Earth because you come from Earth<br> Hello Mars, this is Flying NASA's Lab Report from<br> Rover Spirit beaming pictures and pride explosions <br> You land you are free but it's not land you land on<br> <br> It's chutzpah art, enriched detritus, covered in penguin dust<br> It's Chinese Yiddish. No, Yiddish Chinese.<br> And It of course is Not It, but<br> A Red Carpet to the Stars, a Panoply<br> Canopy of Sky Snowing Plaster Memory<br> <br> It, meanwhile, is just chilling, circling in space ballet<br> A woman, man, manikin in a spacesuit bikini<br> Recycle Mars trash art. I live in New York, Mars,<br> My kinda planet. The fire extinguisher hisses<br> Chemical temple soup. The ladder<br> <br> Raises an eyebrow to the sun. Look down, there's everything!<br> Everything is what Mars is, and it looks exactly<br> Like your apartment! A synapse leaps here, goodbye<br> Poem to reader, hello! Send me a postcard <br> From Mars, sign it Angel. Drift wood drifts by. <br> <br> Hollywood leftovers -- Movieland<br> Caterers' lonely folding chairs now a mountain<br> On the plains of Mars, as Martian ants <br> Parade balance tightrope strings <br> Weaving the whole thing together. <br> <br> Big Iron snowshoes. Luckily it snowed.<br> A crater rocked over, that is our mission.<br> We call it the Lower East Side, twelve<br> Candles in a row. The melt is on!<br> Inside the artist's mind, his<br> <br> Hair! No! Hair goes on outside, drifting over<br> Angel's forehead reflected in a black disk<br> That rescues the symmetry of light.<br> What the hell is that poet doing? What<br> Is he talking about? What's the meaning<br> <br> Of meaning? What's the purpose<br> Of purpose? What's the use. <br> Can I use it? It feels so good<br> To refuse it. Refuse to be burnt out.<br> Refuse to interpret. Refuse to move.<br> <br> Refuse to refuse. Refuse to shut up.<br> Inside the synagogue is Mars.<br> Inside Mars is your apartment.<br> And behind the door, an old woman<br> Is waving you in. Come in, she says. Please.<br> <br> The trip to Mars is but a jaunt, a passagiata.<br> Walk in art, walk in artist's mind. Walk <br> In poem. Walk in the synagogue of your apartment.<br> Strolling past Mars, you keep going. <br> Goodbye, you wave. Goodbye which means Hello.<br> <br> _________________________________________________</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25">&nbsp;</p> <h1 style="margin-left: 25"><b><font face="Courier New" size="3"> <a name="A Jew in New York">A Jew in New York</a> </font></b></h1> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Like everybody else, I wasn't a Jew <br> Until I came to New York. In Portland, OR,<br> The other day, a young Latina asked me<br> If I were Jewyorican. Papa and Bubby<br> Came from Ukraine, landed in Brooklyn,<br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin-left:25"><font face="Courier New">Settled in Harlan, KY, and named my father<br> Benjamin Franklin. My mother, the offspring<br> Of a coalminer, married Ben, the only Jew<br> In town. He didn't last. Ma remarried.<br> In kindergarten, in Cincinnati, instead<br> Of moving to the afternoon session the second<br> <br> Semester, I stayed in Morning and changed my name.<br> This is the year 5755. In Chinese it is Year<br> Of the Dog. I just learned that the time between<br> Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur<br> (Day of Atonement) are the Days of Awe. Moody<br> And gray, with dashes of absolute clarity, I love<br> These days. Cleansing summer's sweat from the streets<br> Of New York, I always think of the year beginning in <br> September. "That's when school starts." A holdover <br> from Youth. This year, for the first time, woo,<br> It's the real New Year, and I am a real Jew.<br> A real Jew, and a real coalminer's son, too.<br> _________________________________________________</span> <br><br> <font face="franklin gothic book" size="2"> <a name="Johnson to Dylan to Holman (Robert to Bob to Bob)">Johnson to Dylan to Holman (Robert to Bob to Bob)</a></b></p> <br> Looks nothing like a man of stone no high-strung temperament<br> Almost childlike, an angelic figure innocent as can be<br> Wearing white linen jumper, coveralls, that Little Lord Fauntleroy cap<br> Nothing like a man with a hellhound on his trail<br> Immune to human dread<br> Stare at his image in disbelief<br> </font><br> <br> _________________________________________________</span><br><br> <font face="Times New Roman" font size="4"><center><a name="Kaira Peace">Kaira Peace</a></font></b></p></center> <align="right"><font face="Times New Roman" font size="2"><i> --as sung by Papa Susso to Bob Holman</i></right> <br> <br> <left> Kaira is a word<br> It is the word for Peace<br> Kaira means Peace I think you can hear that<br> Kaira Oh how Papa Susso loves that word Kaira<br> Papa Susso, the Internet griot with a BA degree<br> It is such pleasure to sing Kaira up and down kora strings<br> Listen to Kaira, that pleases peace, Please Peace Now<br> Slavery is over, that s what peace means<br> 1945, West Africa, you know the World War <br> Was happening  Kaira  but in West Africa,<br> In Senegambia, 1945 was the year slavery was abolished<br> No more slaves means peace  Kaira!<br> Now it so happened that a few years later<br> There was a rich man in Guinea <br> Name of Kaira-ba Toure, his name <br> Was Peace and he loved Peace so it was all together<br> And there was a great great great balafon player, I m talking<br> Teneng Sory Diabate, who saw this and rededicated Kaira<br> To this patron of the arts and this patron of Peace, Kaira, Kaira-ba<br> <br><font face="times new roman" font size="4"> Now listen here is Kaira<br> </font> <font face="times new roman" font face="2"><br> Slavery abolished but people still fight for power, Kaira<br> The jeli sing Kaira and people who come from the slave families,<br> Well, they still call themselves slaves, they walk around<br> Only now they follow no one. They are looking for work like everyone else.<br> And the power struggles you could say they go on to this day<br> This New Year Day let s know this word Kaira<br> It s a word for Peace, it pleases peace, Please Peace Now<br> With slaves in Mauritania and Sudan -- Kaira<br> With political prisoners in US and Eritrea -- Kaira<br> With people dying in Iraq even though the war is not a war -- Kaira<br> The kora plays the contradictions and plays for Kaira, for Peace<br> That is Kaira, the word for Peace<br> Please Peace Now<br> Kaira is the word for Peace<br> <br> _________________________________________________</span><br><br> <a name="Kulafaso! Celebration for the Feast of Feasts"><b><i>Kulafaso!</i> Celebration for the Feast of Feasts!</b></a><br> <font face="courier new" font size="2"><i>--as sung by Papa Susso to Bob Holman</i><br> <br> Folks! It s celebration time <br> The whole Village is celebrating<br> We ve come together so let s celebrate<br> How can we celebrate New Years?<br> I got a good idea<br> I got it from the griot, Papa Susso <br> (What a voice he has!)<br> (Also not a bad kora player)<br> Let s go visit Jojo Diggery, aka Jekere Bayo<br> Why shall we do that? you may ask<br> Let s ask Papa  Papa, why visit Mister Jekere Bayo?<br> Only one reason, Bob  he is the richest man in the village<br> And once he hears our poem about New Years<br> He ll shower us with positivity in the form of cash<br> With which we can fuel the Celebration<br> And make everyone happier and more joyous <br> And prosperous to the extreme in the New Year<br> We ll dedicate this to all the businessmen<br> So that Jekere Bayo won t feel like he s the only patron<br> We can do this poem at the Bowery Poetry Club<br> And we can record this song and all our fans can shower<br> Us with their greenery, their fine dances and great jokes<br> <br> We know how to celebrate!<br> Kulafaso! Kulafaso!<br> Without the poem there can be no celebration<br> Without the poem there can be no New Year!<br> Happy New Year to the Whole Village from Papa & Bob<br> This message was brought to you by Jekere Bayo<br> <br> _________________________________________________</span><br> <br> <a name="Len Freedom">Len Freedom</a></font></b></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">We'll line up alphabetically according to height”</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">March off into the tame yella closer </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">And eata eata</font></p><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Them's my Potatoes, stew em – </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Fracture blind and blustery</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">All I ask is Shut the Fuck Up and gimme </font></p> <br> _________________________________________________</span><br> <br><a name="The Listeners">The Listeners</a></font></b></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="verdana"> Meanwhile the pianist redoubled her speed<br> The musical emotion was at its height <br> a servant passing refreshments on a tray<br> the spoons clinking you glance your lover<br> is signaling you, to go away, a newlywed<br> tries to catch the host s eye in order to send him<br> a look of gratitude for having Thought of her  <br> the spinnet whirls itself rises on its legs <br> the final chord snatching off all the clothes<br> of the listeners not noticing the grasping radiance<br> <br> Some Years Later<br> an impotent, blind, dizzying anguish over the bottomless abyss<br> exceptional and ephemeral feelings of warmth and cordiality<br> <br> he never deviated from his affability<br> never rebelled against their dogmas<br> and they sensed too the impossibility of imposing them on him<br> <br> The Loveliest Vision of a Work of Art<br> transcending the wrong notes<br> coaxed by unskillful fingers from<br> an out-of-tune piano<br> <br> which notes random notes plucked to form<br> the piece you hear the meaningful piece which colors<br> the painter hurled them randomly as I seized the<br> ones that speak the notes that connect that tell it that show it<br> not as intended who could say that what is intended<br> as this moment looking to you dear Readers dear Listeners<br> the background goes foreground your childhood now<br> the notes insinuating a lost melody suddenly recalled<br> a trifle that breaks your heart and you suddenly<br> epiphanize the painting stepping clear through pure<br> color and whirling this way and that never escape<br> <br> Then he stopped thinking about it<br> <br> Not so much an impediment in his speech as quality of his soul<br> <br> Alost of the demimonde<br> <br> <br> Proust on Cell Phone<br> <br> &as long as we do not know about the expedient by which that impossibility was<br> circumvented<br> <br> The Hen, Having Just Laid an Egg, Sings at the Top of My Voice<br> <br> For the Most Part Not Even Written Down<br> <br> As much inaccuracy as simple good-heartedness<br> were derived not from books but from a tradition that was at once very old and <br> very direct, uninterrupted, oral, deformed, hardly recognizable and alive<br> <br> <br> I Would Clear an Unknown and I Thought Fatal Path Within Myself<br> until the moment when a natural trail like that left by snail<br> added itself to the leaves of the wild black currant vine<br> <br> <br> My Sensuality Spread Through All the Domains of My Imagination<br> <br> the discord between our impressions and their habitual expression<br> <br> as tapering, scaly, imbricate, checkered, yellowing and granulose as two spikes of wheat<br> <br> old age prepares for death, wraps itself in its chrysalis<br> <br> inexpressive glances<br> <br> <br> a little overly elaborate, but so pleasing<br> <br> Our Museum of general ideas  no new allowed there<br> <br> puberty of grief<br> <br> to spare her plum colored skirt the spots of mud under<br> <br> new elements<br> <br> as we will see later<br> <br> The idea of perfection<br> <br> fat as a fist<br> <br> in front of my bodily eyes<br> <br> the eyes of my memory<br> <br> secondary, familiar, anonymous figures, as lacking in individual character as an extra <br> onstage<br> <br> it was the hour and it was the season when the Club was its most multiform, not only<br> because it is more subdivided but also because it is subdivided in a different way<br> <br> a primordial unworthiness<br> <br> artificial, secondary and transversal line<br> <br> a smile formed that was simply the timid adumbration of a kiss<br> <br> a hat for paying calls rather than a beret for playing<br> <br> I was recalling, that it was truly my love for her that I was augmenting little by little like<br> a book as it is being written<br> <br> ethnic eczema and the Prophet s constipation<br> <br> kissing the harmonious fleeting body as it passed<br> <br> murmured like a perfume<br> <br> had assumed the disguise of this body of sound<br> <br> she s just married off her daughter, or her lover, I can t remember which; maybe both of <br>them &and to each other!<br> <br> We do not tremble except for ourselves, except for those we love<br> <br> _________________________________________________</span> <br><br> <a name="Make Noise">Make Noise</a></b> <br><font face="Times New Roman" font size="2"> --- written for the New York Public Library & read from the steps, 8/19/04<br> <br> We gather at the Library<br> To hear the books speak<br> For themselves!<br> <br> The covers evaporate and sonicize!<br> <br> Drums escapaphonic tympanic sprout symbols!<br> Metaphor realize the incantation concatenations roar!<br> Cannons  canonization! Rereradioization carumba rumba carousal espousal!<br> Snippyzaps  sheer lightning o  Thunder!<br> Crackles of roar! Overbrimful soar o er!<br> Sirenic titanic barrage crash!<br> Lash! Bash crash!<br> Smash trash! Lash bash!<br> ROAR!<br> Rarararararara Roarrrrrrrrrrr!<br> <br> _________________________________________________</span><br><br> <font face="times new roman" font size="2"><left><a name="The Minnesota Activist Series #1"> The Minnesota Activist Series #1</a> </left></font><br><br> <center><font face="times new roman" font size="5">General Burps</center></b></font> <left><font face="times new roman" font size="3"> I ruffruffruffruff [coughs] <br> beg on my goddamn knees to differ How?<br> and How come? and <br> Why! as the Wi-i-i-se Womanwomanwoman<br> useta saysaysay <br> <br> The Stand Up <Br> The Sit Down <br> The Walk and Folks, guaranteed,<br> that s about it <br> (although sometimes The Walk is known as Walk the Walk )<br> Thank you and Good! <br> Night! [blackout]<br> <br> The Stand Up <br> The Sit Down <br> The Walk and Folks, guaranteed,<br> that s about it <br> (although sometimes The Walk is known as Walk the Walk )<br> Thank you and Good! <br> Night! [blackout]<br> <br> Still, &. [41 second Pauze][That is a German pause]<br> <br> Once the Body BECOMERS the Body Politic [Burp]<br> <br> and viceievicieversey [taunts]<br> <br> Once the Body Politic BECOMERS the Body [Faux Burp]<br> you say <br> I Will HOP To Work<br> you say <br> you always say<br> I WILL LIE DOWN ON THE JOB<br> you will say Hopping and Lying><br> <br> down<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;down&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;down<br> <br> These are my jobs as human<br> <br> To Evolve!<br> <br> To Evolve and to Kill the Tyrant!!<br> <br> </font></left> <br> _________________________________________________</span> <br><br> <b>The Minnesota Activist Series #2</b><br><br> <center><b><a name="Pasta Mon">Pasta Mon</a></b></center><br><br> Pasta Mon cookin in a limousine<br> Windows rolled up - poem written in the steam<br> Poem starts to change - to a recipe?<br> I'm cookin up a story! You still hungry?<br> <br> Deep in the blue sea deep in the memory<br> Connected, perfected - totally poetry<br> Yuppie got a puppy & the baby got a Pamper<br> Doin the 500 in Winnebago camper<br> <br> Why?<br> Why?<br> Why Pasta Mon cry?<br> <br> Back in the history I shot the deputy<br> For not makin sauce sufficiently garlicky<br> Everyone entangled in a single ecstasy<br> A single strand of Pasta Mon's linguini<br> <br> This is the wild life! Carbohydrates? Out of sight!<br> "Pasta Mon Fashions" give eyesight insight <br> See the world through spaghetti headlights<br> Ravioli figleaf? Pasta Paradise!<br> <br> Why?<br> Why?<br> Fresh onions is why<br> <br> So much pasta Mon cannot give it away<br> What's the matter with a platter of pasta pat ?<br> Keep the homefries burnin - a sorbet gourmet<br> You too can have your own authentic Pasta Mon beret<br> <br> Pasta Mon starrin on his own tv show<br> Yesterday's menu's already obsolete-o<br> Today, I'll show you how to roll a pasta-filled burrito!<br> W/ no habichuelo on the tuxedo <br> <br> What's for dindin?<br> Pasta,<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Man.<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Pass the Pasta Pan!<br> <br> It might boil over - the pot is bubblin<br> It might boil over your mind that's troublin<br> It might boil over - dynamite<br> Might boil away to nothin, spoil your appetite<br> <br> It happened to me while readin Weekly Reader<br> The future was coming - it would be beater<br> Beater. Deffer. Bigger forever.<br> Sun on the horizon - it was always risin<br> <br> What happened?<br> (I'm just askin)<br> What happened?<br> Huh?<br> <br> The Future is here - the Past is a goner<br> All stuffed in a pasta shell of once upon a<br> Time when the rhyme would be flora and fauna<br> A cheese syntheses: Utopian lasagna<br> <br> A nickel for a can & a nickel for a bottle<br> A trickle down sound from the nickel that bought you<br> America the Beautiful in quarantine<br> A cardboard mattress and a cardboard dream<br> <br> What happened?<br> (I'm just askin)<br> What happened?<br> Huh?<br> <br> Barbecue trashcans linin the Hudson<br> Dogs are howlin as you throw the spuds on<br> Pasta Mon's recipes gettin kinda smelly<br> Rat ratatouille & vermin vermicelli<br> <br> It might boil over the pot is bubblin<br> It might boil over it's your mind that's troublin<br> It might boil over - dynamite<br> Might boil away to nothin, spoil your appetite<br> <br> What happened?<br> (I'm just askin)<br> What happened?<br> Huh?<br> <br> _________________________________________________</span><br> <b>The Minnesota Activist Series #3</b><br> <br><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><b><font face="Courier New"> <a name="14 Things to Do Before Friday">14 Things to Do Before Friday</a></font></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New"> 1. The cry behind the cry</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">2. Free Jazz </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">3.Free the shadows from the bars”</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">4. Sit on the verandah overlooking the sweep of lawn<br> as the miniature ebony elephants race across your feet and the dark<br> simian leaps into your arms: Now you can solve the case!</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">5. Everyone has to be baptized for something</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">6. Repair all appliances. Add electrical outlets everywhere</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">7. Introduce white trash sushi (white bread rolled paper thin.<br> Fillings are tuna or ham salad. Roll thin and slice diagonally.)</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">8. Make peace with family -- start a new one</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">9. Look back</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">10. Free more things: free though, free food, and free love, for <br>starters. Also free all debt. Finally: Free the Slaves!</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">11. Do something worth remembering. Forget it</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">12. Stop writing poetry</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">13. Invite everyone over for dinner. Don't be home. Observe from<br> a safe distance.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">14. Impregnate yourself</font></p> <br> _________________________________________________</span><br><br> <b><font size="2"> The Minnesota Activist Series #4</font></b> <br><br><a name="The Opening of the Big Museum"> The Opening of the Big Museum</a></b><br><br> It was big, you were lost, the art leads you sure, but you are lost<br> In the art<br> There were colors, all friends & shades, & escalators, saying see <br> You later<br> At the top, there is so much space, blink your eyes reopen, leap <br> Into space<br> Remarkably attenuated, yet forcefully blank, there was nothing you could do<br> About it<br> Many s the time you were forced to draw the blinds behind & stare solely<br> At the art<br> Wandering drifts so many mazed passages & treats of eye flash that you d stop<br> At nothing<br> Just to see everything was the trick of the day, carousing conflicts of mind &<br> Memory<br> At just the right moment the helicopter would land offering to whisk you up<br> & away<br> You wave it on over the edge s horizon and keep on searching for what is<br> right<br> Before you<br> The Museum is opening, continually opening, waves opening you, waves<br> Opening you<br> <br> _________________________________________________</span><br><br> <font size="2">The Minnesota Activist Series #5</font> <br><br> <a name="The Impossible Rap (The Other Thought)">The Impossible Rap (The Other Thought)</a></b><br><br> Last night just as I was passing into sleep<br> One final thought began to race me to the dream<br> Intercepting the sweet powers of Morpheus<br> Pressing me to wakefulness and purpose<br> <br> I drew my pen and prepared to set down this marvel,<br> Final thought of my existence so it seemed <br> The thought itself panting, near Death, as I<br> Retrieved it: it called itself, The Other Thought<br> <br> What? A thought appearing in my mind that was not of my<br> Thinking? A thought I thought I'd exiled that thought,<br> Banished it as not of me, not me enough, then urging<br> Me to please shut up, The Other Thought continued:<br> <br> "Do not dwell upon the political implications inherent in your <br> Inability to entertain any but your own precious thoughts, Buddy.<br> Rather, amend your ways to allow Other Thought's existence.<br> Write not The Poem; write, The Other Poem!" 'Tis impossible!<br> <br> I countered, for by so doing, by giving vent to The Other,<br> Am I not precluding the very basis of my own existence, essence<br> Of me? At that, the thought became a shiver that coursed <br> My spine, and I find myself engaged in application:<br> <br> To rap the rap with the truest groove<br> There's no stop gap from the first remove<br> This either/or thing<br> Is just one more thing<br> A touch too much<br> A tad too bad<br> A bit to wit<br> A might too tight<br> Explode in your mind, a tiny grenade<br> Leaving the impression The Other Thought made<br> I never thought<br> I never thought<br> I never thought The Other Thought<br> <br> Hey, wait a second<br> Wait a second second<br> This is Impossible!<br> <br> The Impossible Rap<br> Is ready to appear<br> Is it possible that<br> You are ready to hear<br> It has something to do<br> With what you just said<br> It's the thought you can't remember<br> In the back of your head<br> It's the dream you won't surrender<br> When you get out of bed<br> Just Return to Sender<br> Think The Other Thought instead<br> The Other Thought &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Other Thought<br> The Other Thought's gonna get you<br> The Other Thought's gonna get you<br> <br> If you say rapping is just scratching on the surface<br> I think I know what's making you so nervous<br> You say you don't understand the beat?<br> Put your ears to the ground and listen to your feet<br> <br> It's Impossible!<br> But undeniable<br> It's ubiquitous<br> Don't hold me liable<br> It's always behind you<br> When you turn around<br> Just out of sight<br> Just underground<br> <br> I never thought &nbsp;&nbsp; I never thought<br> I never thought The Other Thought<br> I never thought The Other Thought<br> <br> Might as well go to bed<br> Chill that hot thought head<br> Good night! Sleep tight.<br> Twixt waking & sleeping<br> That Other Thought is seeping<br> Creeping & leaping into place<br> Right before your face<br> With a certain grace<br> Well, in that case:<br> Is it Impossible?<br> Sine qua known!<br> It's a itsy bitsy schizy<br> Other Thought's on the phone<br> It's so humiliating when your brain is on call waiting<br> It's so humiliating when your brain is on call waiting<br> <br> Back back back<br> Back before you said it<br> Back back back<br> Back before you thought<br> You were there too<br> How do you do?<br> Is your thinking on the blink<br> What is it to you<br> Can't tell what from...what not?<br> That's what The Other Thought's Thought thought<br> That's real clear<br> You can take your tongue out of my ear<br> Another Other Thought is surfacing<br> While the surface disappears<br> <br> Caramba! (Take a number)<br> Caramba! (Take a number)<br> Get in line with your mind<br> Get in line with your mind<br> <br> <br> I'm in with the Out Crowd<br> The Other Thought's cryin' out loud<br> <br> Take the alternate take the alternate take the alternate take<br> <br> The rush to resolution is not a solution<br> <br> The Impossible Rap<br> Is ready to appear<br> Is it possible that<br> You are ready to hear<br> It has something to do<br> With what you just said<br> It's the thought you can't remember<br> In the back of your head<br> It's the dream you won't surrender<br> When you get out of bed<br> Just Return to Sender<br> Think The Other Thought instead<br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; TRANSCEND<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; THE END <br><br> _________________________________________________</span> <br> <br><b>The Minnesota Activist Series #6 (on DVD)</b><br><br> <a name="Whatever I Was Thinking Of">Whatever I Was Thinking Of</a><br><br> What could I have been thinking of!<br> Thought. I was a-thinking thought. All<br> I was was thought and I needed to get it <br> Out. It rhymed. It was a story, an image <br> Slugs your face like a lost skylark, timed<br> <br> Like a suicide, the Thought countered.<br> Hey wait, I am the thought! But inner<br> Workings, well, who s to know till it <br> Gets out. Even a Poem turned to the wall <br> You can read shadow, it is pre-writing &.<br> <br> It is, as Prof. Ong says, nested in <br> Sound.  Where does the ong come from?<br> From song. Wrong strong gong daylong<br> Dipthong. Playing ping pong with King Kong.<br> Sigh. How much terror can one life hold?<br> <br> The way you held me, that death smell.<br> Can the idea of thought keep Death out? <br> I thought you were dead but it was me.<br> My father, the suicider, and then my step-<br> Father followed and as ever, yours, father-<br> <br> Less. I always feel like a fatherless child.<br> It took vowels to develop analytic thought,<br> They go cheek to jowl. Like the saying,<br> A picture is worth a thousand words, why <br> Is it a saying? You aughta be a picture <br> <br> Of a man crying with a child crying beside<br> Him and an unspeakable wind, idiot, <br> A fog with two lights sticking out of it.<br> Sure they go up too far, illuminating<br> Nothing and they are in the wrong place<br> <br> Too, but what would you have us do?<br> Now we are us, we are all thinking about<br> Every skylark, accident after accident<br> Until the horrible truth finally dawns: it s<br> Dawn and you are still awake and the streets<br> <br> Are long and lonely and dark and Mr. Ong s<br> Guitar gently weeps. I think I want Mr. Ong<br> To be my father. That thought rapidly passing<br> The other way a fireman heading up the stairway<br> Looking for the fire while the bodies fall<br> <br> All around. Apples. Gravity. The Afterlife. Suddenly<br> Praise poems are obituaries, Papa Susso taught me that.<br> If you listen, the walls will speak the Poetry. Writing<br> Is Death. So busy remembering everything he forgot<br> To do anything worth remembering. Get milk.<br> <br> A singalong, passed on and on generationally till<br> It loops into an epic. Read that back. Dadotdit. Thought<br> Is sound. A brilliant collapse, what I m saying<br> Through corpse: Thought reinvigorating. It s <br> Agonizing Everso. The Year of the Grandson. Hello.<br> <br> End of Final Message. I m happy, why did I say <br> That? Contained, under the hat, universe condenses<br> Into single image, image of song, song of a <br> Painting, painting of dance, a dancing poem.<br> <br> _________________________________________________</span><br> <br> <b>The Minnesota Activist Series #7</b> <br> <font face="Verdana" font size="5"><center> <b>Do Not Delete! Two Found Poems Rescued From Spam</b></center><br><br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Don't Forget <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;it's free popcorn chicken day at kfc<br><br> <br><br></font> :<font face="arial" font size="4"><b>Would you like some Extra income? <br><br> I'm not talking about getting rich.<br> I'm talking about a few hundred a week.<br> All you have to do is sit in front of your computer<br> for a couple hours a day!<br><br> _________________________________________________</span><br><br> <a name="Muse Out of Town">Muse Out of Town</a><br><br> <font face="verdana" font size="2"> All the Italians are happy<br> You're from there but the Berliners<br> Are happier because you are there<br> Now so we should be happiest<br> Because you will be coming home<br> Gotta ghetto New York breathe<br> <br> _________________________________________________</span><br> <br> <align= left> <a name="Night of the Living Dead Every Day">Night of the Living Dead Every Day</a></align><br><br><br> <center> <i> Help Me<br> I Can See </i><br> --sign on Pedro Pietri s begging can&c</center><br><br> Spalding and I in No Exit. He is just dead <br> as I am age 56 today, living. Sartre says,  Spalding says<br> Buñuel,  continue I, Exterminating Angel <br> To die in water, to be hauled to air<br> I walk the earth fair who cares <br> It is spring again, I wonder<br> why,  as James Schuyler once said<br> wrote to no one<br> in particular and always <br> the empty chair and table with full glass<br> <br> What can I say<br> write? Swimming<br> upstream to Green<br> Point, the icy flow and corduroy<br> ferrying home. You can t<br> sleep with the fishes cause<br> the fishes don t sleep as Nick<br> Jones says<br> sings. Spuddy s solid strokes pulling<br> even with his dragging foot <br> and head plate, towing me <br> to shore where we rest for a while.<br> <br> As I was saying and saying<br> I was saying as and as I was<br> and as I was saying what I<br> was saying was what I was <br> <br> The doors and windows of Romero s<br> Night of the Living Dead conveniently<br> open in one direction but they open <br> and the zombies are everywhere. Spalding<br> <br> is dancing with them, Buddha doing a soft<br> shoe round the empty chair on the empty table<br> brandishing the full glass and I am trying<br> to write it down down<br> like time sinks. Good line!  tosses Spalding over<br> his shoulder. Then, Who can rhyme<br> sublime with sublime and love with<br> doubt s the bottom line?  He whoops,<br> red-faced & leering ecstatic and never <br> dead, straight into his name.<br> <br> Now we are here forever someone mentions (OK, me)<br> trying to make the lines that add<br> up not <br> down dissolving chair into table all into glass<br> .<br> Only I am breathing. Awfully<br> parochial,  says my man Spalding<br> who is talking so fast I can t write it pure<br> sound highest-speed synapse crackle<br> I can t sleep I can t sleep  sings <br> Spalding remembering everything<br> <br> Just a couple more: how ancestors become family<br> causing to escape the word Happiness<br> which will be poem with no metaphors allowed<br> not one word poem but one life poem<br> as zombies<br> scale the walls in Sag Harbor<br> busting in as the room breathes<br> axes in the windows they are singing<br> Happy Birthday to you, surprise,<br> but the words are Auld Lang Syne<br> <br><br> _________________________________________________</span><br><br> <a name="Not Much but Something">Not Much but Something</a><br> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">not much but something out </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;of nothing ain't bad keeping</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">company with yourself opening</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;the door to the ear hello is </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">all the mouth can say till you stick</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; meaning in there </font></p><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New"> like a violin piano bass drums</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New"> <span style="color: black; background: white">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ok for Ornette a horn<br> that scratches<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; into the comfort zone</font></p><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>I remember <br> we spent those days remembering<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; and at the end what we had were<br> a whole lot more memories<br><br> </i> remembering the future is what Bang swang<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;his lithity placating the harmonies<br> growling from hunger for peace<br><br> he'd say Part 2 or 3<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;keeping track is a drag making tracks<br> is a pastime and the single step in<i>to</i> it<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Forever After as in no now<br> say now anyhow NO to the wars<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;seeping blood into music<br> here's blood in your ears<br><br> snapdragons foxgloves hollyhocks<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;adorn my lover's walkway, her<br> path of slate I laid the pond<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;behind the barn behind the house</font></p> <br><br>_________________________________________________</span><br><br> <a name="On the Edge">On the Edge</a><br><br></font> <font face="times new roman" font size="2"> On the verge of understanding<br> On the verge of a crash landing<br> On the verge of don t you mention<br> On the verge of nonintention<br> On the verge of blacking out and waking up another person<br> On the verge of starting fresh by making up another version<br> On the edge<br> <br> On the other side of mourning<br> On the thought that dies a-borning<br> On the preacher s sentiment<br> And your lover s subtle hint<br> On the crossroads of the alley<br> And the interstate of folly<br> On the edge<br> <br> You can keep the pace forever stopping never changing horses in the middle<br> of the stream of racing consciousness and dreams<br> Out their window with the window and your narrow blindered vision allows<br> the light to fracture glass and pitch you back upon the grass<br> You re just passing through<br> Excuse me, are you through<br> Outta my way, I m coming through<br> Now that you re through<br> How do you do<br> On the edge<br> <br> On the verge of a discovery<br> On the verge of full recovery<br> On the verge of falling over<br> On the verge of growing older<br> On the verge of comprehension<br> On the verge of full retention<br> On the edge<br> <br> There s nothing you can do but what you re doing when you re through with what you re<br> doing then the one you face is you<br> So climb onto the ride of time the one that doesn t slow to climb the freefall total flight of<br> immediacies  intricacies<br> which you hold on to on the edge<br> on the edge of the very edge<br> <br> On the verge of waking up<br> On the verge of making love<br> On the verge of exasperation<br> On the verge of collaboration<br> On the verge of the merge<br> Submerging the urge<br> On the verge of calling up the one you said you d never call again<br> On the edge<br> <br> <br> <br> You can start it all all over in the midst of a hangover on the white cliffs of Dover on<br> your knees to old Jehovah<br> Does it matter which direction when it s the resurrection and your imperfection reflection <br> waits at the intersection<br> You re on the verge of giving up <br> On the verge of giving in<br> On the verge of something new<br> But then again again again<br> We re on the edge<br><br><br> _________________________________________________</span><br><br> <a name="picasso in barcelona (dance version for Yoshiko Chuma and Pooh Kaye)">picasso in barcelona (dance version for Yoshiko Chuma and Pooh Kaye)</a> <br><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">At Fourteen I Could Paint </font></p><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">At fourteen I could paint better</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Than Leonardo Da Vinci</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">So after that I could dash</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">It off to prove I could</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">And then paint myself in</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">A motherfucking wig</font></p><br><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">In 1900 the future </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Opened up its arms</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I invented the car</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">And Rembrandt</font></p><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I'll show you</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">My mother is the sea</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">She heaves under the white foam</font></p><br><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I look at people</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I paint them</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Looking at me</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">El Greco Was Cool</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">He drew down</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I draw up</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Make it look down</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Sit on a bench</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Wait for time to catch up</font></p><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">My mother was of the large size</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I could paint her holding me </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Before I could hold a brush</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">And was famous</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">The young painter</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Unconsciously sails</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Off into the unknown</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I am unconsciously drawing this</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">With charcoal that sticks to my fingers</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Gets under my nails</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Take off your clothes</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I will make a book cover</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">And put a photo of me on the back</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">To make sure it sells</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">She will become my blue period</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Now she stands there unconcerned</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Put in a cigarette. There.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Embraceable Me</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Arms around orange</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">And lines straight to the ground</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">You'd never know</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">He has a hard on</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Thus began my blue period</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Every worm on the boulevard</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Is in love with me</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I Am Working Hard Now</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">On my signature</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Also, the oysters and lemons</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Signify my sex</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">The white shadow is what</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I fear most</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">But will not admit it</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Except to paint it</font></p><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Nakeder</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Instanter</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I'm quite attracted to the crazies</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I am one of you</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">My pen takes its own life</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">There are no others</font></p> <br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">With my other eye</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I am looking at you</font></p><br> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">Inventing Cubism</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">I got it on with B</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 25"><font face="Courier New">We invented C<br><br> Who Is In The Mirror<br> I don t know your name<br> But you could use a shave<br> <br> My love<br> Will you<br> Hold this<br> Brush in<br> Your mouth<br> While I<br> Thrust the<br> Canvas up<br> And down<br> <br> Thank You<br> Thank me<br> <br> <br> Some Other Painting<br> <br> Of course I will marry you<br> As soon as I finish this damn paiting<br> Hold still<br> <br> The Miracle of Triangles<br> Is they never wear out<br> <br> Room Full of Blues<br> Room full of me<br> <br> <br> No More!<br> No. More.<br> <br> These would look good<br> In the living room<br> Over the sofa<br> <br> Have I told you about my nose yet?<br> It is not, for example, in the center<br> Of my face. In fact, it is not<br> On my face at all.<br> <br> Here dance the flamenco<br> On a cork<br> And later that cork<br> Is all you will wear<br> First Paint the Cork<br> Then use the cork to paint with<br> Then paint with the cork<br> Then put your nose back on your face<br> See if I care<br> <br> I felt a little rain<br> And the Fawn said,<br> If the old gods could help me now,<br> I d buy one of your paintings! <br> <br> Skull on Book<br> I ll read the skull<br> I ll fuck the book<br> <br> Don t Talk!<br> Please don t talk to each other<br> I am trying to draw you<br> Talking to each other!<br> <br> Every morning I wake up<br> Give myself a big kiss<br> And paint a masterpiece<br> Then I have a coffee<br> <br> Running Towards Death<br> They call me genius<br> But I cannot confront Death<br> Don t you know, my loves,<br> My sandals, my sail, my sad --<br> All I paint is Death<br> </font></p> _________________________________________________</span><br> <br> <a name="Push Back, If Not Break Through, the Boundaries of Poetry">Push Back, If Not Break Through, the Boundaries of Poetry</a></b> <br><font face="times new roman" font size="2"> Sing! O Muse! <br> Or, Shut the fuck up.<br> Let guitar bleed turntable tumbleweed skritch! Mouth work overtime!<br> I may be poor wayfarin  stranger<br> But I still loves ya Baby<br> I got my fishing line doing double-duty on the kora<br> Blasted a love pit into fractious Tribeca<br> & I m a fool I m a fool for your love<br> <br> This ain t nothing but rock n roll told by a lyre<br> A keen-edged consortium of vowels and cons <br> Guaranteed to be your steady companion,<br> Sidekick lover, your other Other<br> Listen to me now<br> Hey<br> Once and believe you me once is enough<br> Once the baby stopped squalling long enough for the sun to set<br> Once WCW had set down the black bag and cluck clucked<br> I never no I never want to go back there again dear Alice<br> I will never leave you again<br> <br> Hiccup pogo stick accordion the connect<br> Speaking of speaking poem, its life,<br> It s Thomas McGrath s & Gwen Brooks  Li Po Assignment :<br> To greet the moon from Po s boat and TS Eliot ll footnote<br> <br> Li Po s a mite drunk tonight as he paddles to the middle lake<br> Whereupon he commences to speak directly to the moon<br> Excepting that it is the moon s reflection he is speaking to<br> So he dives overboard and drowns in the moon<br> I will do that, I hum to my father<br> I will do that too<br> I will drown in the poem<br> Drown in moon<br> </font> <br><br>_________________________________________________</span><br><br> <br><br> <a name="Sudden">Sudden</a></b> <br> We would go there, into the dark, into the rain, to the place we d call Mildew Bungalow.<br>Now all our parents had warned us and we d all promised, which made Mildew<br>Bungalow all the more enticing, all the more magnetic, the total aspiration of our need. <br>What was it? we d be hard put to answer, except that we knew, that this was the most <br>fearsome place, the awfullest, and we were going there to prove we could, to become<br> men, and women, and heroes, and gods.<br> <br> All of the sudden. As in, plop it all. We gonna and we gonna and we gonna. The<br> senseless joy, the joyless sense. <br><br> _________________________________________________</span></p><br><br> <a name="Swing Into Heavy">Swing Into Heavy</a></b> <br> First we round up the mbira poets and the Bed-Stuy Santas<br> We go up to Harlem, Striver s Row, and we tunnel to Columbia<br> All a dance<br> <br><br> _________________________________________________</span></p><br><br> <a name="To Whom It May Concern:">To Whom It May Concern:</a></b><br> <br><font face="times new roman" font size="2"> I am writing regarding my patient, Robert Holman, and his claim to the Crime Victims<br> Board.<br> <br> Mr. Holman works and resides at 173 Duane Street, five blocks from Ground Zero. He<br> observed the collapse of both buildings from his home office; he observed people<br> jumping from the building while seeking solace and community on the street.<br> <br> It is my judgment that Mr. Holman was traumatized by 911; he is currently under<br> medication, Zoloft and Welbutrin, partly due to his experiences. He has dreams of<br> buildings catching fire as he walks past them. When he is riding his bicycle in the<br> neighborhood, he says he feels the sun a shade brighter, which causes him to remember<br> that his route used to be in the shadow of the Twin Towers.<br> <br> My diagnosis is that Mr. Holman suffers from depression exacerbated by his experiences<br> of September 11, 2001.<br></font> <br><br> _________________________________________________</span></p> <br><br> <a name="Top 10 Spam Subject Lines of 2004">Top 10 Spam Subject Lines of 2004</a></b><br> <br> Viagra online <br> Online pharmacy <br> Get out of debt <br> Get bigger <br> Online degree <br> Lowest mortgage rates<br> Lowest insurance rates <br> Work from home <br> Hot XXX action <br> As seen on oprah<br> <br> <br> _________________________________________________</span></p><br> <br> <a name="URDU POEMS translated by Bob Holman"> URDU POEMS translated by Bob Holman</a></b> <br> <br> <font face="andale mono" font size="2"> <b>Song (after Dr Shafiq)<br></b> <br> I ve left<br> I got a mortgage<br> Sold the house didn t repay the mortgage<br> So marry me<br> In my last life you said no<br> This time around  I am rich and on the lam<br> So let s do it do it do it<br> Let s invent love<br> And spin in the opposite<br> Direction from the world<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <b>L Amour Fou (after Noon Meem Danish)</b> <br> You drive me crazy, Crazy Love!<br> Stop kissing me, Wind!<br> Stop getting me drunk, Water!<br> Stop staring at me, Automobile Headlights!<br> I m walking everywhere, stopping only to change my feet<br> Thank goodness for Daytime, I can see where I m going<br> Too bad about the Night  no Light, no Sight, no Love<br> The Dove dives into my head and flies off<br> But my head stays put<br> <br> <br> <br> <b>The Revolutionary (after Kamal Hamid)</b> <br> When you re a revolutionary you must<br> Resolve the riddle of Doing by Doing More<br> <br> Blood is only liquid<br> The result is ice<br> <br> Not to melt<br> But to hold its form<br> <br> What was that you said?<br> Sit still a thousand years<br> <br> The stars will<br> Move for you<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <b>Love Poem (after Hammad)</b> <br> Make an arc with your hand<br> Put an arrow in that bow<br> Shoot the arrow into your Lover s heart<br> <br> Touch the bare ground, the flowers you remember there<br>