Poems
papier barco self
and this fold on fold (papier barco)
origami self one replicates itself
(the impossible dream beyond google & mr gates)
so this small boat book look alike in its paperness
carrying a world between all the betweens
dampens pianissimo (contralto-like)
as it floats above joyous singing
pilfering the freedom
crest on crest and crumples as the tide
turns to conversation
filling the porous bilges (funereal wishes)
as she sinks stern first
water needs gills
and crumples recedes unfolds
at the portal
i
he said there were
nine departure points
places
where things were
and now are missing
nine departure points
you went first
out through the present
into the existence
forming the puncture
when you first came here
your bag
was
packed with long phrases
and single entities
connected
across the barrier
she laughed when I told her that
vessels containers
miscible fluids
the suffusion occurred around the edge
on the meniscus
where you said your attendances
were waiting
through the shared portal
by the escalator
along the strand of conversation you had with
Kurt Vonnegut
crossing gaps
chasms of opera
shuddering fault lines
bridging crevasses to the champions
and the piano player
rocks the pedal
calling for more volume
ii
quiet portal
now
quiet portal
a vantage point
two points off north
finding the metallic way
it could have been titled
(he said) nine ways to
ignore the edge
the persimmon seller
said he didn’t remember her
or the bag
it must have happened overnight
on the other route
before the drawbridge
(we could have seen her tracks in the dew
on the margins
where the outside becomes more defined)
she wore the beret of battlements
and had the instruments
instruments
of absence wrapped in the red scarf
the old red filaments of longing
he had lent to her mother
he said she always wore it
when they were leaving
leaving town
(looking back)
leaving him
quiet she said
there is listening
at the portal
iii
or
it could have been titled
the repeat
going
finding the departure date
tentatively
pouring the days through her fingers
waiting for the one
waiting for the one
the folly
the pretend
the parable
send salvation
bring paper and brushes from Kyoto
and a scientist’s hypothesis
look at the puzzle
he says
it could be the nature
of the here now
gone now gone
she asked earlier
of the man
at the doorway
and the departure date
where was her shoe her bed her talk
looking out and away
toward the going
the parallax/incomplete
gathering material
gathering events (pearls of politics)
on the way down he said
shadows lengthen
because of northerness
he carried on
on
not knowing
he carried on
iv
quilted jacket from the Tibetan market man
and purple boots
that laughed and squeaked
(no money/not paid for/passage invalid)
going on
going on to the rupture
oh embouchure
ebb and flow
filling the toes
of his slippers
she bought for him
from the Indonesian family
in the boat on the carpet
hand knotted
looking through the window
beside the old fireplace
looking out
for
the arrivals
those still away
not here
not yet
looking out for the arrivals
they were infrequent
we called them
the sometimes
he said
sometime
sometime
it could have been
it could have been
titled
the nine portals
and the nine arrivals
one departure
sometimes
Kokoda
she told you this
slowly
offhanded detail that was
sometimes the story
sometimes not
the main thread blended
with the background
emerging again
regenerating
through the detritus
still
still
talking quietly to us
showing us
the carapace
the hieroglyphics
the places here and here
the fabulous and the content
the breath between the descriptors/
the fascinations/and/
the totality
calling in ahead of time
blue purple irises
the worn fabric
at the margins
the points of contact/the points of contact
folded blue irises
just a thought/a thought
the man in the hat
fishing (the crowd)
buying (the crowd)
(incarcerating)
don’t look up
keep still…ten months
keep on
keep
we’ll meet again
keep
years later/ she burnt
she burnt
walked
out of the house
toward the incinerator
slow march muffled footsteps slow
tears/rain/tears/tears/
(tropical rain)
dripping from (his) her nose
steps up to the dias
pause pause
the eternal flame in full view now/
the mothers view
uniforms (all present and correct)
lifelike monuments to life
uniforms over her arm
last post split post post office
strainer post corner post
cicadas
that afternoon
rolled askew
like the wheels askew
he seemed part metaphysician
part montezuma part cortes
part magician
part judicial
are there any more bids
is there no other interest
are we all done
all silent?
all silent
in it goes/the flame extinguished suddenly
by the fallen serge
by the body of the coat
arms legs cuffs colour patches
+Syria+Kokoda (+Iraq+Vietnam+++++)
hisses/smokes
and smokes/cork tips or plains/
Craven A or Capstan
(pats his pocket, cups his hands,
squints through the smoke, grins at his mates)
and smokes (cordite)
flicks the ash
glowing life
incinerator flames flicker around the edges/
the wool (shibori) contracts
judgements of character
gown and wig
the man you met
squandered fragments
of language
of deeds
he said
we all felt
an essential yearning
to think our lives/ourselves
back into existence
back into ourselves
the japanese mothers/
letters/kimonos/
cherry blossoms in nippon envelopes
land of the rising sun/
back to back to back/
rising sun diggers badge
memories
remembrance day
march at school/
the sword through the lady’s side/
hari kari at the monument?
the boxing tent man
‘it’s the last show of the day
you’re in time but you’ll have to hurry’
up on the board walk
in front of the sideshow tent
tannoy in the corner of his mouth
he snarls/ he roars
at the boy
in the silk dressing gown
beating the drum
(beating the time)
‘shake her up
shake her up
shake her up’
baboom baboom
baboom
baboom baboom
she looked for him
in all the usual places
but we knew
he had
become unfindable
an anomaly a mirage
a vanishment
though all around us
everywhere
even part of the water
in the container
they used to boil the rice
Eternal flame
am I
the eternal flame
he asked
the angel (who found him)
bare feet in the mud
edges crumbled and broke away
he laughed
this is badman country
you’ve been reading too many westerns
he said
the door opened inwards
not the batwings
he expected
scarifications on his chest/
(where are the medals ribbons)
cicatrix over his beating heart
military cross
woven into his beautiful hair/
his beautiful hair
carrying (carrying the baby)
sister holds my hand
we spoke to each other
watching him
losing sight
being carried /aloft/
rising and falling
in the arms of the haloed man
on+on+on+on+on
surefooted/ascents
descents
slides/hearts
ascending ascending
holding on
to the wing feathers of Icarus
knowing that one day
god must apologise for war/
descending
the Papuan man lets him drink
lets him drink/holds him tight
lets him drift
while he sings his sister song
ascending ascending