Poem No. 1008 (“Under Little Island”)
The view from under Little Island
Can look like an ass
Or some other vaguely sexual amalgam of body parts
Or perhaps a stiletto heel
Or perhaps some large industrial machine
Or something
Sometimes allegedly inanimate objects speak to me
Advise me, berate me
Provide me with autobiographical information
Or attempt to enlist me, encourage me to join their cause
But these concrete piles
That hold up Little Island
Are silent
Maybe they are dumb
Or maybe they are wise, but choose
To keep their wisdom to themselves
6/30/2024
Poem No. 1009 (“The Hole”)
There is no evidence of the hole having been dug
It seems to have always been here
An emanation of needfulness
A signifier of desire
The essence of emptiness
The hole seems to be begging to have its needs met
But in reality it needs only to need
It seems to want its desire to be realized
But it actually only needs to experience desire
The hole seems to be asking to be filled
But all it needs is to be an empty hole
But if at some point the hole became filled
Then that’s what it would need: to be filled
But if that were to happen
The hole would cease to be
Although it is not entirely impossible
That there would be a hole
Where the hole once was
6/30/2024
Poem No. 1010 (“The Pit”)
When the pit is so disgusting and putrid and vile
And horrible and horrendous and filled with slime
And is the mirror opposite of sublime
Then one might not be proud
Of one’s decision to avoid it
Rather, one might be ashamed
That one was tempted
6/30/2024
Poem No. 1011 (“Swans”)
Once there were swans
And now, there still are swans
Once there weren’t swans
But now there are
Once there were swans
That are no longer here
And most likely there are swans
That aren’t here now
But will be
6/30/2024
Poem No. 1012 (“Universe vs. Controverse”)
Universe vs. Controverse
Outerverse vs. Innerverse
Alphaverse vs. Omegaverse
Alphabetverse vs. Numeriverse
Position vs. Opposition
Protagonist vs. Antagonist
Proton vs. Epsilon
Portrait vs. Landscape
Darkening vs. Enlightening
Kissing vs. Biting
Thunder vs. Lightning
Friends: why are we fighting?
6/30/2024
Poem No. 1013 (“Nike”)
Thought is death to action
But it’s not like action kills thought
You can shoot first and ask questions later
You can take the action and think about it later
Move a muscle, change a thought
So if you’re uncertain
Just fucking go for it
Don’t let thought kill the action
Nike, amirite?
Nike
6/30/2024
Poem No. 1014 (“Goodbye June”)
Will I sing you another tune?
Will I play one on the bassoon?
Will I put on the pantaloon?
Will I watch The Black Balloon?
Goodbye June
I didn’t finish this month’s poems until the early afternoon
I didn’t eat the soup because I didn’t have a spoon
I didn’t respond to the troll because it would’ve been picayune
There are many things I didn’t do the entire month of June
Goodbye June
Maybe I’ll shrivel up like a prune
Maybe I’ll eat a macaroon
Maybe I’ll re-watch Part II of Dune
Maybe I’ll go, but come back soon
Goodbye June
6/30/2024
Upcoming:
Next Saturday, July 6, I will be doing a performance at Two Bridges Luncheonette (135 Division St). It might just be me, performing for 30ish minutes. That sounds like it could get tedious. Let’s hope not. I’m on first, at 7, I believe. And then the far less tedious Christian X. Hunter will play, followed by Chihoe Hahn and then Dots Will Echo’s Nick Berry.
In two months, King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) will be performing at 10:00 PM on Saturday, August 31, in the Catskills! I’ll be doing a reading around 1:00 PM the same day. Tickets and more info here: https://app.promotix.com/events/details/DromFest–24-tickets
Today or tomorrow, I expect to have a new book out, containing these and the rest of this month’s poems. My latest book, however, is called The Monk and Other Poems. It’s Volume V.E. of the Number Series. It contains all of May’s poems.
Paperback here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5V22NV7
Kindle here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1M79235
The Complete Number Series (paperbacks of each month’s book going back nearly a year and a half, and kindle books through October 2020): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C3Z72NY6?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_m_mng_rwt_sft_tpbk_tkin
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