Beat Happening - Indian Summer

Todd Colby & Fabienne Raphoz Reading in Paris, June 4, 2014

More information here.

A Short Walk

There's a pleasant low dome over Saturday
reminding us that even a few feet above
the ground is known as "sky." A secret class
is free and easy, soaking in super warm red
where chaos reigns on the margins of that
ruby cocoon. I congratulate you with hearty
cordiality. Since I'm out of milk, the celebration
will proceed with dry cereal eaten from a tiny
bowl intended for dipping sushi into soy sauce.
Powerful strength line reduction is one way
to correct the feeling of time passing, another
way is to clip errant hairs with a battery
powered device. Are you taking me to the machine?

Gateway Activity (Written with Joanna Penn Cooper)

A bus stops in front of the building
and honks repeatedly, summoning you
sent from my iPhone
made of leather and some great
bonded material. You glance up
and a purple glow is surrounding
a man's face reading this over your shoulder.
You could follow the man or you could
get on the bus. You go with choice C
and keep reading. Choice D involves drinking
too much water, which is known to soften your
bones, giving you a loopy, flimsy look that is
quite popular among the Parisian Cognoscenti,
whatever that means. The bottom line: you lack
a spine.You go too long without practicing
your areas of expertise and forget all
your French, how to navigate the West
Village, and how to impart longing, joy,
& consternation unto the most charismatic
members of the ruling class. The revolution
is coming, or so they say. Meanwhile: work calls,
and the ever impending wave of fear, which is really
only an extended vacation in a field of rot. Viz.,
A golden opportunity, as they say in the business.
Excuse me, where is Los Angeles again?

Monday Top 10

1) The pulverizing sun.

2) The smell of spices or cloves or something is blowing in here.

3) The cherry trees have already blossomed.

4) My secret stash of pens.

5) A dollop of Sarabeth's raspberry/strawberry jam on vanilla Brown Cow yogurt.

6) Blond leather.

7) 8:18am

8) A list for Paris.

9) People have a lot to do, so they're walking around doing it.

10) Looking outside is the best medicine.

Friday Fact

Leather coats, bags, auto interiors, & furniture - these things are exposed to public scrutiny and human touch on a regular basis.

The Wooster Group - EARLY SHAKER SPIRITUALS - inward ecstasy [05.24.13]

I'm excited to see this.

I'll be giving a reading in Paris

June 4th, 2014: todd colby & fabienne raphoz
double change et la Maison de la poésie de Paris

vous invitent à une lecture

de Todd COLBY et de Fabienne RAPHOZ

Mercredi 4 juin à 19h30

Maison de la poésie
Passage Molière 157 rue Saint-Martin 75003 Paris
Métro : Rambuteau RER : Châtelet-Les Halles Bus : 29, 38, 47, 75
Entrée : 5€

Click here for all the details.

Arthur Rimbaud

Cole & Walter

Puffy & Refined

Cultivate the swathe of space you inhabit
so you get a better sense of where
you'll be landing. Develop enough precision
and control that you land with one heel
on a dime. Today it feels like summer, so
there's that. When the air is thick
it makes velocity a bit more puffy and refined
during a dazzling leap.
Feathery descents appeal to us here where
everything is solid, will break.

All Together Now

Red Ink Swab for Waterman

A red ink swab can't wrestle a cheetah to the ground.
But maybe, just maybe, if that were depicted on a canvas,
no one would get hurt. Pleasant payments would be
made, like in the form of money to live on and so forth
for the depiction of the slaughter in real time, in paint.
A fantasy at a fancy dinner is like that. A cheetah will dissolve,
once attacked. Its flecked hide dusty in the sun. And the
flies. So many of them. An open eye is a landing zone.
It's red, what else matters?

Zoomers

We are zoomers,
we come here and there, but mostly
we zoom here and there, but mostly
here. My contact information
here. My details
here. Dip repeatedly
in motion, thrust repeatedly
in space, and then at close range
into space, and then close rank,
pull rank, and get snotty, eventually.
Take place, and snotty, finally. Flanks.
What I'd really like to do is put my head down.
What I'd really like to do is put my head down for
oh, say, can you see me doing that
for, oh, say, can you see me do it
for three days? Slip into something jagged,
for three days? Slip into something irregular,
for three days?
My goodness, what have you done?

Body/Head

Emerald Cloth Dyeing Instructions

A green cape in Paris allows
you to keep up the good work.
It distinguishes you from the vendors
and sometimes even the other people
in green capes, depending on the hue.
For example.

Guitar Opening, Be Patient

Animal, mineral, flower;
those orange things
with cheese on them.
Crazy things make me
relax. My friend throws a chocolate chip
cookie into the air above me,
and I mistake it for a bird.
When it lands, I see it is a raisin
cookie, and she is laughing.
When people smile
it is more comfortable.
Eye contact is important
to exchange emotions.
Everyone gets distracted
from time to time in public.
You know what I mean, jelly bean?