Michael H. Brownstein - A LANGUAGE OF SILENCE

--because of Sandeeo Permar, Sylvia Plath, Dorothea Lasky, Sharon Olds, and too many we wanted to be mothers

this was supposed to be

but

not this silence:

yes, this was supposed to be

instead, a silence--

not a sign of warning

not a sign of breath

not a sign of anything

supposed to be

but 

only silence

DO NOT IGNORE THE SUN

to not wake up

to not see the mansions made of skin

the root of bone

the splashes of gum disease across graffiti littered lawns

a flux of heat

blisters and blistered lips

tongues swollen into heavy shipyard knots

scurvy and bacteria laden lemonade

a sudden loss of oxygen

felt paper and cellophane 

sweat and spit

an inability to scream

muscular turbulence

tendonitis 

a loss of self confidence

brain waves thin as spider venom and the hollowing of a fly

Levidrome 

(originally published in Moss Trill)

In the aftermath

of aftermaths

there came a man of math

who knew after-maths

shtam-retfa wenk oho

htam fo nam a emac ereht

shtamertfa fo

htamertfa eht ni

and so it went

dog begot god

god begat dog

looped pool-ed

level reap level pear

ton of (k)not(s)

was (a) saw

and so it is

htam retfa emac ohw

nam a saw ereht tub

htamertfa rehtona ton saw ereht

htamertfa eht fo gninrom eht ni

in the morning of the aftermath

there was not another aftermath

but there was a man 

who came after math

 

Jim Meirose - Daytime Star? Daytime Star

A rage abreacted muscular, ok, big ire-banded quack banger ol' bins side thug utility trailer, walked worn grass tailers, place we circus tent would go up. 

Wide smile ay sea face, as walked past bp ores going up. 

Ph.

Ello!

Nodded, smiled, greeted each passing stag; clear voice, aid, open face, read edge—huge yellow tent. Ying spread ground, spoke installed white short side.

Rage Friendly swung quack banger up. Stake wit crack. Quack banger swung.   

Was 'n friend?

Friend. 

Gosh Ollie.

Geoffrey Heptonstall - Two Poems

 1. HOMEWARD WE REMEMBER

                                              OTHER LIVES ARE 

out there when we are seeking 

 

WORDS UNWRITTEN     

                                                          

that                                                    may serve to remind readers                                                         of the future.

                                                                                    In other words we may speak 

                                  of picturing the world

                                           in plain sight.

In cool air

Memory speaks

Among the memorials

When spirits rise

the cattle move toward fresh pasture. 

They take their time in diverse tongues before an indifferent world. Something happened here. A voice was heard. In the murmuring of the tomb land came the calming words in anguish against invidia of the hearing denied. 

‘I will be heard.’ is softly spoken. After Babel there is more to be said.

READING IS REMEMBERING                                           lament may come readily to mind

                                                as homeward we think of things.                               WHEN WE IMAGINE THE FALL,

                                                               We had been talking                                                  of that untimely moment

                                                                                                 of the style and the man.                                            WE NAME AS NEVERMORE..

                                                                             His reading of life was restless, heroic,                     so with her otherness, 

                                                                                                     an aesthetic of action.                                                Chatelaine of this fabled world,

                                                                                      writing for her

                                was a prelude to combat…                            

                                            Her song was stilled

when the hope against oblivion.                                                                                                                   accepted  darkness…

OTHER LIVES ARE WORDS UNWRITTEN. READING IS REMEMBERING WHEN WE IMAGINE THE FALL WE NAME AS NEVERMORE

***

2. THE DOG THAT HOWLED ALL NIGHT

What does not change is the will to change Charles Olson

Of a possible election:                                                                      

then in the sight of darkness                                                                          a lantern light

moving to close of day                                                             above all the armadillos                                                                                     

from the vantage tower                                                                        in celestial time chiming…

Of the harvest angel

                                                                                                  scattering our marvels 

at the sight of disaster                                        naming where the stones                                                                                                                                   

keep silence on vacant ground  

when fate may seem indifferent                         though this life is familiar…

Of a lyrical persuasion:                       

invisible in the ruins                                           

too late to save the spirit                                              

that blessed the city opening

to the world’s worst

And in there hearing the dog that howled all night…