12.28.2008

Erasure: The Return.

I've picked up my massive erasure project again this morning. I don't know why I always leave it setting for so long. A few recent pages, then.



artists painted nature as
they saw it
constructed
tempered by the
straining eyes across the
sea
the far-off sky, there hung
or was it anything at all?
"It's gone."
So must the chorus ever go.

an immense
handicap,
what you actually see
the at-
mospheric quality of
disappointment snapshotting travellers
who time their pictures as they would at home.
a century
or twenty thousand
some devout women
able-bodied men

for the sake of cadence
We say O without thinking, just
as you begin with 'dear sir,' in writing to a stranger
the full English poly-
syllabic of respect.
The
air,
suggesting purity is
difficult for the beholder
the fool who fails to appreciate
a creature
however grand

A Celestial
Suburb -- French Cooking and Frock Coats -- From a Car
Window

any other place.
the steamers
anchored off the port
authorities board you as you
lie in the harbour
to which at last you are warped in
the ship moves slowly to her berth
inevitable suggestion brilliant flower
gardens agitated by the wind

Through this garden of chattering,
fluttering human flowers we made our way
a jumble of
insignia stamped upon
backs,
always led, and
when left to stand, front legs
roped.
countless
rows of little houses,
fences
only partly concealing
By some containing
by others
light
Dogs of breeds unknown sat placidly
before their masters' doors

the women smiled, and the children smiled
the roadway
a splattering of light and shadow.
And what with all these things, a glimpse of a
shrine
But instead of climbing onward up the hill to
heaven we swung off
graceful and dignified

native
dress -- but by far habited
in European style: the younger men
widely favoured are also
convenient in
a land where shoes are shed on entering a house.
from the seaport
small boats
resemble
light
two men, three
shall presently discover
military exploits
and
first-rate English

1 comment:

cherry garcia said...

poetry, oh noetry!

x

also, how long did it take for that home package to get to you...?

x