Slide

You think there
is a piece of property
somewhere
with your name on it
a bit of form for you
to take into a warm room
in your hands
you think you hold this
property but you've been
building water
the gracefully articulated
presence of an ass
shows that nothing gets done
without punishment
all your efforts
are flayed and prone
so you might as well
slide because it's all
frozen anyway.

System of Needs

With the contingency of irony
the corporation or the police
making the protection of property
the vandals smudging the wall
with political words the gate
left open so the memory of property
is dissolved as the administrators
of justice barge into
the house take things and dip
their hands in the poison lake
with needs and means
the body exists
but it is not in conformity
with the mind.
Thanks for the resolution.
Thanks for the memories.

W.G. Sebald

This is from an interview posted here
Thanks to Stephen Mitchelmore!

"And I do tell people in private conversations that there are other ways of making ends meet, and that writing often doesn’t work when you try to force it. People usually understand that. I also make sure to tell everybody that it is extremely important to have a profession besides writing, no matter what job it is. There are certain professions that are more suitable than others, as a parallel to this kind of work. Being a doctor, for example, won’t hurt. Whereas being a dentist is not so good. You know, as a dentist you always look into the same mouths and see the same holes. You never hear anything from the patients, because they sit there like this [pulls his mouth wide open and continues sentence in mock constrained voice], and they cannot say anything. Whereas as a physician you receive valuable insight into social contexts, family stories, personal problems, that is a lot of material. Well, and the best thing probably is to be a notary. Hereditary matters. Nowhere can you see as clearly how human beings work than where money is concerned. But on the whole it doesn’t really matter what you are, be it an insurance agent or a teacher or whatever – you just have to have something that will free you from the burden of having to write something every day."

Unloading the future

That's not allowed

Lewis is adorkable

I want to ride my bicycle

The Minutemen

This is just so fucking great...

Louis Zukofsky

"to the two-hundred
year pines
the brambles
the woods
the sometimes dry brook

brimming for once
with
wished-for
rains."

-Louis Zukofsky. From "The Guests" in Collected Shorter Poems, 1958-1964

Listing

1) A maximum flow. Like fame is gorgeous. Like a landscape or a medicine--the feeling being gorgeous.

2) But you have to allow for insecure areas. Where a door is broken from it's hinges or some kids smoking in the upstairs room burn the whole fucking place to the ground.

3) Some would equate this idea with lapping say or neutering--a funnel.

4) Hearing him say drunken--but adding--with sorrow.

5) The art of understanding that everyone is only here to talk about themselves. That they can barely wait to get an edge in wordwise--to illuminate the pedestal they built from shit they found on the way to you.

6) In an effort to show concern in his face while listening to people talk about their fame he stood in a mirror and feigned concern until his face froze that way. His concern is no longer an effort. He eases into it as easily as his penis slips into his hand.

7) You might equate sorrow with genuine things--so that helps distill the idea of being genuine in the minds of those concerned about authenticity.

8) You can watch yourself be sad if the mirrors are positioned in such a way that you are constantly observing yourself in a moment of surprise.

9) There might be an angle you've never seen yourself from before. You might want to check online for that kind of mirror that allows you to get a new angle on your jawline or hair.

10) There is a resting place and you will know about it while you watch yourself in one of the cameras. It is off to one side making your breathing shallow and lonesome--but don't worry--you're being watched.

Vent

Middle aged suicides are up
because there is some rocking shit
going on away from the jobs
cares and worries because
the sticky ticket is throbbing
in the gestures of the anchor
reading the news from a shiny
plate of tumors a tea leaf
at the corner of each mouth.

Nothing

Spreading my wings
like there are wings
that a human can understand
and fully operate
so as to have arms rubbing
the area around the button
where the wings are buttoned
to a flying blouse
before slipping it into
low air mass
with these huge colors
there might be a hasty
lamp the way people
ask for help with a dollar
hidden in their hand
and they shake this
silvery dust in the long
low light of late winter
afternoon is all over them
as they play spoons
on their thighs clicking
a satisfied nothing.

Party

If in a moment of panic and self-doubt
you are moving someone with a stick
poking at them say to propel them
from the edge of the carpet
that the person you are moving
with a stick is on a frayed lamp cord
and there are bells or some alarms
going off like a bank would have
or a toaster would click with
bread that is toasted
the smell of toast which is what
people who've had heart attacks
say they've smelled before
their heart is attacked
if that is the case
if all this is true
we should get together
and party.

Days

Burn one blink and blasted presence
the question is always the day
and what to do with it
or in it in the span of a day
the miracle of tone sharks swirl
on the F-train a delightful
puzzle of your achievements
or the achievements of friends
they achieve the things
and you are the cheerleader
leaning down telling
the people their shoes
fit them precisely and they
can achieve so much
in a pair of socks
a rainbow of light and love
dashed in the sweet smell
of the lethal dry cleaner
it will all be over sooner
than you know all about
my days and yours?
What about yours?

"Team Focus" as my Dad titled this photo of the two of us way back in the spring of 1982.

And me alone, under a table, Iowa City, Iowa, 1982

Football

Todd and Mike Colby -- Iowa City, Iowa -- 1985

More: I-Be Area!

Blissful after dinner at Grocery on Smith Street

He had an annoying self-assuredness that made us bristle when he spoke

Your face is a magnet pulling me through...

I-Be Area!

Karen Dalton: It Hurts Me Too

Joanna Newsom: Peach, Plum, Pear

We saw her last night at The Brooklyn Academy of Music with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and it was truly a transformative experience. She's such a generous and joyful performer. Lovely.