sw00203p-poem33s2

Postures 2007:  #33 from Side Two

"Four for John Ashbery"



1.    Erasures


Begin with three white nines
chalked on a green board:
trees / people bowed in a wind;
oval nerfs standing on their tails;
lasso symbols.

Erase to three zeros:
stylized eggs;
invitations to dive in.

Erase to crescents,
reeds,
parentheses:
             .  '  '



2.    Bones that Speak / Flesh that Reasons


Heavy with seeds,
this is our garden
which--when rains & rays of sun step on--explodes
into roots, stems, leaves, blossoms:
strictured irregularities
that pulse
           /
             breathe



3.    Passages


Winds thread weeds.
Bodies thread madness.

White-hot deeds.
White-hot sadness.

Nailed needs.
Nailed gladness.

Spirits slither.
Ignorance stabs.



4.    Portrait


Every few seconds    loud clouds
flash their roots of fire,
brains crest with inspirations;
stars dig in,
waiting for arrivals:

in the atmospheres of carrion hearts
the luck of double rainbows:

soles held by earths crossed,
heels and toes,
relaxing & tightening daring bowels,
wander a little, rock:

bit by bit, time swallows us;
we do not digest well.

[ "Four for John Ashbery" was written when
  I was using my pen name, Alden St. Cloud.
  It was published in 1980 on page 37 in
  Vol. 14  No. 2 & 3  (the fifth season) of
  Wisconsin Review.  I have made some minor
  revisions to it.
  -
  Today is Thursday, August 24, 2006.

                     Brian Arthur Salchert ]


-------
Brian A. J. Salchert