Thank you for deciding that we're not a new weapon
we'd much rather be called incoherent drunks
too many felonies, otherwise
yes, we may be individuals arrested twice
yet we find that enhanced speech capabilities
have reduced our fines and time
we were fortunate to have the opportunity
to offer you our disorderly conduct
signed, the April Riot
posted by judy j @ 10:19 AM
0 comments
something new is started
which cannot be expected
from whatever has happened before
our good ship skims
before the 'trades'
to haven.
Twenty years
to life -
free again.
Net yet, however.
This war has played the mischief
like a feet-decaying sugar mill.
“I am forbidden,”
quoth the colonel,
“to introduce unanticipated
desire."
fingers.”
oracular orbs.”
nautical cousins.”
fantastical splendor.”
or patchwork of stories from whores."
Pinch me:
(we pitched our tents.
we took their swords.)
I'm dreamin'.
posted by judy j @ 3:44 PM
0 comments
> ps what was the thing you want me to do that you're
> afraid to do?
to breathe.
to remember,
to wait.
do more than close yourself off in
a cubicle
a house
a computer
a head
and call that safety
to expect nothing less than glory
live like the fingers will do the work and the mind
will follow,
speak without wanting people to fill in the blanks -
open up new blanks in your mind (and others').
depend on doubt
exchange words with a future you'll never meet
ask of the past what it couldn't say yet
and bring your friends to places they've never been
give it all a name before it goes away
have patience.
recognize chances when they come
and accept the losses when they go
leave pictures in living stillness
and hear wonder from the people who approach
the flapping pages
black and white images
of dead, disturbed, and dancing
insist on exactitude
(he died from AIDS)
and forgive generality
(she became a widow)
recognize inconsistencies
(man or woman or both)
and seek specificity
(wojnarowicz,
barishnikov,
jackie o.)
sip and savor
(coffee and tea)
draw on deep reserves
(cigs in the tub)
to let go
hold back just enough...
and give it all.
go ahead -
you haven't gone here yet
become what you haven't imagined
imagine what you wouldn't dare
do it anyway
believe
let the laughter leave you
let the silence claim you
and fill it
fill it with your gifts
you have much more to offer than your pain
you have more to heal than your hurts
your pleasure is not a cliche
your acts are demands
know them
claim them
make them ours
keep what's yours
let go the rest
save yourself
lose yourself
let it all behind
take it with you
delve into 'it':
agony is exclusion from
a time that won't come again:
a land, a home, a promise
be unsatisfied with vague emphasis
come back to the middle -
eternity is the space between us all
we call it words, the page, language
insist on it's malleability
maintain your right to define
what has defined you
make sure we know
how to do it too
let us learn
what it takes
to make our power ours
share it
spend it
to the end
and beyond
know words outlive us
rule that uncertain grace
posted by judy j @ 1:20 PM
0 comments
When I got out here the first thing I did was get me a job so that I could help out.
“Mom, you never did tell me that your mother lived in a sod house.”
I guess I hadn't gotten around to just pass the word along.
We had to mind.
I learned to do everytthing that was being done.
I thought at the time I had been old enough,
but as time went by I thought it might be handy
if I had asked my mother a few things.
We thought that was pretty fine.
All the time I was working at picking potatoes
I was keeping my eyes open to see what was available
to see if I could better myself to move onto a better job.
So I did move along.
That's always worked out pretty well for me.
I don't know whether we had any notice or not.
When the war was over they were through with us.
They didn't know what to do.
They had to be showed.
I never wanted too much along those lines.
I can't seem to remember that.
It must be awful different
because
they have different ways of doing things.
Pretty dreary.
Pretty quiet.
The same people were around there
that were there when you left.
It was better for all of us.
posted by judy j @ 1:17 PM
0 comments
One thing you never did, you never left a bucket full of water on the deck because it was bad luck. You never talked about horses, because that's bad luck. And you never leave on a Friday. Any Friday. You never began a fishing trip on a Friday because that's bad luck. They laid the keel of this boat on Friday, they completed the work on a Friday. I think the skipper was named Friday. It left on a Friday with a hundred and some men on this boat. It was never heard from again. So they really did that good. I would say, “Why?” And they would say, “Well, it's just bad luck, that's why." So you never asked why too many times.
posted by judy j @ 1:15 PM
0 comments
scuitinize formation of chin
when was the world young?
thousands pray in sunny streets
perhaps a determination to conquer
he gulps his tea
what do you wish, sir?
sported dimples or vast latitudes?
perhaps a determination to conquer
read his will, tell me what it means
by smile or words lift hands to sky
photographs necessitate darkness
soft clarinet solo asks to satisfy
then muttering, Samson bade Delilah
'i am judas' - a working hypothosis
perhaps a determination
precautions against fraud:
artillery fire must have employed
soldiers and savants at ancient portals
perhaps
and then i saw her
she broke freeways and hacked bodies
famines, plagues, wars, and other offspring
according to modern doctrines
perhaps
a witch's den
gladiator's denizen
oh, how careless
famous people experience
the weight of fear
oh, how careless
posted by judy j @ 11:31 AM
0 comments
"...to confront the transience and phenomenality of the realm of human affairs directly, in wonder and horror."
