Five
Poems by Claudia Grinnell || Author's Links |
Camera-Ready Hunting, fishing, harvests from the ample growth - one may imagine those to have been times of plenty Then farmer Cain slays herdsman Abel, an act which first appears strange. Yet, border and war are ancient cousins and the farmer is more true to borders than the cattle-driving herdsman. In the book of history, this story is kept, fossilized, pressed, and recorded on stone sheets in all colors. However much one entrusts the present with photographs -- images seen, not felt -- snapshots filled with blurred faces. Even the church cannot give more than she has. To ask for more, possibly a miracle, possibly to ward off a picture of the dying: the empress in a new dress. Fall's a quick painter, she falls too, too slow to understand. In galleries, we admire this miracle of beautiful death. The tribe is gone. When the old one died, a shortsighted gypsy threw stones at blue eyes, a few leaves flew up. I like to think she wanted to charm the crowd. Leaves float by my window, blood red. My hands are clean. I hold only the camera. Would Be One-- Two-- Test and all. Fastens the guitar. Rummages about just so. Yells. Women, women have-- Father would be envious, (beer and women) both gratuitous, mother would be making do. And he, he would be(come) (holy shit!) back beat. In the cold, he is allowed one shiver. Inside I I've gone there: damn big area. Furnished humbly. Windows with a view. Others covered. A few centimeters of carpet over cement. Dust-colored. Musty. Over-painted pictures by-- Also forgeries? Who knows-- A TV with small black-white pictures. Programs from the 50's. A grandfather clock, a varnished door. Behind it, a tumble-toilet with newspapers for wipes. People? Yes, certainly. Deep into conversation over topic number one. The Stages of Periodontal Disease Early Periodontitis: gums may begin to pull away from the teeth In old books, the lovers went insane because of love. Her hair turned gray, her skin wrinkled, her head emptied itself--because of love, it is said. I also read that no one ever went insane for the lack he could not feel. Therefore, lack sometimes is a good thing. Moderate Periodontitis: gum boils or abscesses may develop This man, let's call him B, brought terrible disorder to her life. Her ashtrays ran over, all her linen were stained, all her clocks ran fast or slow. For weeks she smiled and danced and kissed the moon. In daylight her love withered and withered and shrank. Soon she locked it into a shoebox with keys to cars she no longer owned. When the man called, she wished to be dumb. When he called again, she was deaf. Advanced Periodontisis: teeth may become mobile or loose Revolution--you alone are worthy of mankind. Here, words bloom on blue lips, and a woman prepares a feast: with a few shy potatoes that waited for her steps in the dark of a cellar, all the while sweetening and ripening. She finds rewards in simplicity; in her oven, her pan without butter, without oil, the potato halves fry--they can easily substitute the entrée, the cake, the cheese or the icecream. How The Body Dies Willingly, at first, willingly, and a bit restless, a traveler weary at endless delays and distracted gate agents. An amputated leg: now we are getting somewhere! Progress is being made! The body lives for revenge--a lung biopsy--one lung is better than none. The heart pumps blood through ever-tightening arteries, several need to be by- passed. The signs are everywhere: clips, sutures, inflatable bags. There is still much left to be done--a dotted line where the rotten appendix exited. Sign here. Around the corner, a flesh moon, buckling and oozing: a failing kidney. No one lives on that moon; someone is still holding on for dear life. |
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