the raven sat on Snoopy's
head
   so what
so what
sleep
 with fishes
in Lake Tahoe
Jacques Cousteau

none of that matters
  forget about it
 really
   it. just. doesn't. matter.
like the trees worry
what
  the sky thinks
   or do they?

the cult of personality
    what is it worth?
        who made it?
           

privatized
  errata
      circumvented
the dirty dishes
        stealing money
though
   that's a given
   - the sway
the swagger
   gun toting
       gimmickry
as
  fear based economics
   star based
pedanticism
solemnity foregone
    mere theatrics
           crocodiles shed tears
               over the dead schnauzer
       $800 handbags
   with your face
    did you shave?
      look into the pool
    anybody floating there?
no just a giant inflatable
  plastic pizza slice
     whoo
   did you buy a new house?

buried 

 on the

 sideways 

  cracker barrel

 meanderings

   the forest for the trees 

    in a car

          moving hurriedly
 along the interstate

I

before

E

= 

MC

squared up

and 

took one 

on his glass chin

   the very truth

      squirrelled in bits and pieces and 

    like a jigsaw puzzle

                                           strewn across the muddied yard

 

       

       

      

jerry-rigged 

   jury rigged
seems like a days work

      polemics 

                      pollsters 

           podiatry 

what else ya got 

simple 

simon sez 

go back 

two steps 

for every one 

forward

     but don't listen to him
keep moving
     dogs bark but the limos keep rolling

 

the truth can't cash
 these checks your mouth keeps writing

the truth can't cash

these irregular 

   wanton days 

  delivery 

 of rain soaked 

newspapers 

feet covered in 

rubber-banded 

 plastic bags 

    riding 

on   

riding 

on

 

   

my memory
  like broken pottery
   cast into the sea
      worn smooth
     and rounded

a stony 

brew 

 left through 

the pickled cartoon 

    shenanigans:

two coyotes 

                    and a badger

 fearless fly 

             comes to save the day

                           but still armageddon in the news

                         the bar is lowered again 

                             so you head to the bar 

                     forget 

forget 

forget 

                believe not 

    believe the worst 

if you will

        acme tnt 

        painted tunnels 

    THIS WAY ------>>>>>>>

       meep 

       MEEP 

  somehow we rise from the explosion

   with a dumbfounded look

                  hair and face scorched again

      

    

   

Tiberius 

was no longer 

              interested

  he fled 

            to the beautiful isle

   the gem 

 the jewel 

       in the sea

Tycho Brahe

           lost his nose

       in a duel 

                   the astronomer 

      saw 

                       a nova stella

    and wrote it down 

              some said his artificial nose

  was gold 

  others silver

                                                 but

                                                         when they exhumed him

  they found traces 

of brass

                           no matter

we didn't go to the blue grotto

  that day 

    she was 

   a bit too persistent

          instead we 

                                         hiked (or did we take a trolley?) to the church 

   on the mountain top 

    we had lunch 

    in the back 

   and nearly 

got shot 

  by a pheasant hunter 

       he ran off with the bird

  under his arm 

 unharmed 

in the water 

I found 

 smooth stones 

    but not stones-

    pieces of glazed ceramic

worn smooth

and rounded 

 by the sea

  

         

the braun

e-stein 

    equi-tide 

galvanization demands 

 purged of articles 12 and 15

                        -footloose bombardment of non-nucleide imparcelment slippers

    syntax corrected on the 11th of November 

   Messrs Q &R

                                            sympathetically incentivized 

                                                                 toward animalistic tendencies 

                                       displaced said slippers 

                                    on the dirty landing -

        the steerage photos

   albumen 

   stood encased by 

 the window   

    until gerdie slipped 

and broke them 

                     summarily dismissed

 

i forgot
 the tide
 the time
 we took
 to get here
       now looking back
it just doesn't seem
right
the
way
you write it down
  where's the emptiness
    where are the dead spaces in between
 still,
you seemed to think
nothing has changed
   but
there's a world of difference
     now
   what is it
 something stupid
i'm sure
  not worth consideration
so fuck it
       play another song
 how does that one go

 

Charybidis
    sweet nectar of the streets
   befouled
     and ancient
like the faeces
of the gods
     bright brilliant
morning
gifts given
the miracles become
     pedestrian
       jupiter
saturn
mars
    a panopoly
 of
   heavenly bodies
   leaving only their
offspring
war famine disease
 love treachery inspiration
  we can read the stars
      gravitational waves
    move tide and time
but not the freaking traffic!
    

oh 

the dear bonnie 

 lads 

      so youthful and 

                                        filled

 with spirits 

 ghosts now wander 

these halls 

                 lives spent 

                          some taken 

                                      some given

 but still 

we live on 

                    and new blood

    is spilled 

                   wine is spilled 

                  we drink the 

  wine 

     it ain't Jesus's

      but the blood of 

the grape 

the caryaitids
  circled the light
as we
set up
the
   streets
     down in the
  acreage
     the chemistry
was
  evident
    some strided
others ran
 the words were too much
   so they
passed large vials
   of glass
   between the
coconut palms
   one man had a pet mountain goat
another
 a dwarf pygmy tiger
    electronics were suffering
we steadied our ohms
   on the kitchen table
 the one with the red and white
checked tablecloth
 

defiant 

   truculent 

    ambiguous 

             but the blues 

                       keep raining 

                        down 

hey 

fats 

 so long 

(not you)

    

   walkin blues 

              still

           strap your boots 

    on 

                                  we got whiskey 

   yeah but 

        my head hurts

                                       the sugar daddy man 

                       can't 

                              slide that bottleneck 

                          the rain is letting up 

        i'm keep on 

keepin on

 

 

 

  

a
stones throw
from
the pickle
you're in
not
 a casual embrace
but
you
 steel
yourself
 for a fortnights
misgivings
  then throw the swim trunks on the bed
 and try to
reach that
gin and tonic
 slide
     braced again though
you wished
for nothing else
 strange
how things
can change
  so quickly

Dominique Lowell ©1992

sighted

 the 

 carrier 

   pigeon 

     endless sights

 from 

beyond 

3rd st

      taking a brown bag 

 bottle 

from your pocket 

and walking 

walking 

until    the poetry 

catches up

     some barrier 

to your senses

 something that wasn't there 

 before 

but now 

you can't shake

 

  

why did I buy that
 I was looking for inspiration
  something new
 something different
something
fucking
anything!
 haha
 oh well
 I'll wear my fart on my sleeve
so to speak
 tear up the stupid
with more stupid
 the tepid
the uncontrolled
 the waistrel
pissing it away
   something is saved
though
something

day one
seemed like a dream
it didn't really go so well
    people texting
wandering around
 talking to an artist for
a really long time
in his garage studio which opened into
a giant work space
  he gave me a hit of LSD in foil
god knows when I would do that!
 he was kind and he was busy working as we talked
moving the little wood shapes
on the board -
from the top the shapes looked in a regular geometric pattern
  but from the side view
they were going all different directions
 tension amongst the order
hidden tension