Monday, November 3, 2014

HEART THREAD Parts Thirty-One and Thirty-Two

31.

But to throw all that away like the sun setting
who knows what will come up again from the sea
the only monstrosity is me
a two-headed boy with hands on fire
then the mist calmed in along the sound
you can remember an oriole above the deck and not much more
spilling aftermaths the custard we think with
in Vienna the central Peace Yard in snow
no peace only a relaxing
drumroll and the horses you never knew who died
until they came to life again
Sunday morning in the park and no one there.

 
32.

These things at work again and who can say
blame the otter for the beaver’s dam
we are so bad at causes and effects
time to go to there is no school
and sit there all day dreaming
naked teachers stroll around the room
daring you to see them as they are
the words slip off the meanings
the sun keeps rising all day long
you’d rather be home a book in her lap
why don’t you read me like you used to
how did your father’s car get so far up the tree.
RK on Dylan Thomas (mp3)

RK reads at the Red Bull Gallery, 2 November 2014


Two new books are out:

THE COLOR MILL, with Nathlie Provosty; and
A VOICE FULL OF CITIES:  THE COLLECTED ESSAYS OF RK, edited by Pierre Joris and Peter Cockelbergh

 CockelberghCockelberghCockelbergh

Sunday, November 2, 2014

HEART THREAD Parts Twenty-Nine and Thirty

29.
                                                                              J.W.v.G.
Queen of hell before whom only shadows bow                                 down there is the secret name of here
a daughter crying for her unborn son
what shall I do with all my friends
fit all those women in one little car
all their Prada purses and portmanteaux
and drive here over the waves to underhill
where once I thought I stood alone
the boy in the cellar with his head on fire
eyes lost in a book
sun setting over Brownsville
and the Sukkos booth humming with laughter. 

 
30.

La Juive by Halévy because every Jewess is lost
lost in manworld lost in Goyistan
give me the truth in your soft lips
give me the wisdom of your cunning wit
none of this religion matters
it is the will to be and be believed
a god is random a faith is definite
hold me to what’s important
cleavage between the dream and the dock
oh God the sheep will never come back
the land itself is lost at sea
all that’s left is sing the temple up. 


Saturday, November 1, 2014

HEART THREAD Parts Twenty-Seven and Twenty-Eight

27.

Born in a beast’s cratch dead uplift in agony
and in between gave meaning to the world
why does the ocean always feel like Christmas
why can’t I forget the things I never knew
for this is personal this is Welsh all DNA
this is a matter of sunlight on one side of each wave
curls of light advancing to the land
because everybody else got born before
but there’s a messenger in each one too
guiding the absorptions of the flesh
meaning the mind
dragging the stupid consciousness along. 

 
28.

Oh God the you in me goes out to you your way in space
you is a verb at least
in every me a you is cached
time is the solution
the me dissolves and leaves the you
active in the interior of earth
the boundless inwards of each living agent
what they used to call the self before they knew
time is acid space is alkaline we live between
salt flats of Utah high plains of Tibet
understand the balance and fall free
god is a neuter in every sex.  

Friday, October 31, 2014

HEART THREAD Parts Twenty-Five and Twenty-Six

25.

Open the carpenter take out the door
electric circuits switch in cut-open thorax
the whole world an autopsy of God you say
but mind is the only kind
girls are prettiest when they stand on bridges
men so empty on the way to work
soon forget how I began
her green Celt eyes do work for everything that lives
motherhood is made of gift
no man has a father a father passes
I was getting ready to revise the planet
carried some old books up the stairs to bed.

 
26.

Now to come at last to answer me
a bookcase on the moon he found
deer browsing in the surf
what is there for a Christian in all these trees
civilized by language the Irish slept
is there no question ever for all my answers
I have tried so hard to say them clear
clouds white as nuns pass without remark
every percept demands memorial
an alternate universe made of simple sentences
suppose there were a gender to each thing
rufous towhee in the bayberries loud.