Wednesday, May 13, 2009

overheard something about a wall

there are thirty-seven ways of dealing with a brick wall
when you do not count the moss that scales your growth:

the first way levies a smart tax on the scattering gray,
way thirty-seven a bitter grinding of spent and bloodied flesh-
the in-between a forgotten study of the mesh of considerations
chronicled by crusty sages and a glacial permutation of beards:

the cat's cradle of crow's claws scratch isosceles in the sand.

between mortar smash and vermillion splatter
the arithmetic of salty after mirth is just a playground
evolving from sweet blue rust to chartreuse plastic:

the heavenly brat swings through gravity's lurch
and bullies the cream cheese and jelly from unsuspecting grins-
stolen tarnish from the sweaty coins of palmed redemption
is ransomed by strawberry globs and a bread-like offering
that, in its globular wonder, seems like a god is coming.

there are many ways to chatter and one way to silence.

this is not devoid of gray and grainy pleasure
and that is, wonderfully, the way to point your brickwork-
the now is great with its equilateral trowel,
the then a softly dripping, if encrusted, trough.
luscious ocher wax drips from a taper that is over-
the worst of the stains elbowed into musty boxes
by the steadfast recovery of yellowed grease.

this is mostly not enough.

10 comments:

  1. "bullies the cream cheese and jelly from unsuspecting grins" what a line. love it!!!

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  2. Ah, so many lines I love in this piece. Quoting one is unfair to another. So, I won't. Great job mate!!! Keep them coming!!!

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  3. You are doing stunning things with syntax lately. I love it.

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  4. You know how you make my brain hurt; you.I actually have to think when reading you *dance*
    I am liking how each line 'piggy-backs' the following line and how the words within the whole create such startling images.
    I can never just read what you've written once and each time I read such, I discover something new.

    'the cat's cradle of crow's claws scratch isosceles in the sand.' My fav of the whole.

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  5. BTW there are thirty eight ways of dealing with a wall!

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  6. Megan: Blame Proust for syntax, no one but me to blame for the semantics.

    SarahA: Maths not my strength. Thanks for pointing that out, you!

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  7. Shadow: Cream cheese and jelly, the bane of my youth.

    Brosreview: I like 'em packed and cryptic. Will keep 'em comin' at will. Aye, aye.

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  8. "the cat's cradle of crow's claws scratch isosceles in the sand"

    It is one of those lines that when I read it my mind tips over and my mouth blurts, FUT!

    Like I said, fut! wow. This is it. It is so beyond me. All of it, except the freaken ocean ride through your words, and me in a row boat. Wow. Going to read again.

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  9. WIAW: I've heard of WTF and w00t but "fut" is new to me. I like that I know what it means w/o explanation. Re-reads helps with this knucklehead. I find things I did not intend the first time around. Who knew? LOL. FUT and all that. BTW, adding fut to my lexicon. thx.

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  10. Gerry, I'd like to add a TM right here. "FUT" was born of me in my living room many moons ago. Futting, of course, has been around.

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Yes?