Author Archives: istsfor manity

hanoi bell (a black-out poem) when i was 8 they came from hanoi, in the sweltering heat, women delivering babies into the night. my mom smiled and said, “the narrow hanoi streets can’t pronounce ‘hello’ and neon lights laugh at … Continue reading →

notebooks She hated blank pages like she hated the blankness of her life. So she began by making marks – large, loose, gestural sweeps on the page. She then shifted from elongated serpentines to dense clusters of hash marks on … Continue reading →

  Two Views: A Cut-Up Bedtime Story (a found and a cut-up poem) I. X.’s home was a shambles: piles of amber eyes, clouds of fleas and other debris, the ritual heads against our legs; red bodies were discovered – … Continue reading →

  Sangfroid I-IV i.  The Ashen Landscape “He’s got what?  Days left?  I don’t want to be there when he dies.” “Sangfroid.” “I’m cold-blooded?” “You didn’t wish to come back to the village — to the sea?” “I see… a … Continue reading →

    windblown it’s not today anymore a bruised child  in yellow terry cloth flew past my window   windblown          barn bits  and green cornfield detritus speckled the turbid sky   it opened up and spat … Continue reading →

alight The oscitant oscillator was stuck at the 4 o’clock position, and the fan head was feeling unruly.  But it was the constant breeze on his bald pate that got his attention. “What the…“ The fan head was stationary but … Continue reading →

… of white dwarves and fiery red giants I read that men who have trouble falling asleep have a twenty five percent chance of dying earlier.  I vow to never sleep again…  Then the memory drops in again: Violence flares out … Continue reading →

someone is bound to celebrate this hegemonic tragedy… why not us? let’s give thanks for love that misses its mark.  this is one of my films (above)… and this: is my hero, giving thanks the way we should give thanks … Continue reading →

(continued from 11/25/19) 31 pieces of the auto-sedition quilt (xxvi – xxvii)   On the last day of the month, on the news: Miners discover a baby 700 feet below ground with a Sun Ra tattoo on its back.  No … Continue reading →

(continued from 11/24/19) 31 pieces of the auto-sedition quilt (xxii — xxv) Cool handbills posted in Maria’s neighborhood say:  Every first Thursday Jesus Drinks Free: free Soul, R n B, Country, and Gospel starting at 8pm at the Jeannie Johnson … Continue reading →