ever the last, old engine block abandoned in a canola field /
your charred grey hulk has a pale yellow glow /
from the rapeseed bending over the hollow cylinders /
wind is a whistle through your cracks and rods /
finally cooling after a life of controlled explosions /
the petrol resource has run dry for you /
your bores now overflowing with slick rain
another new limb today /
two blocks long with eleven thousand index fingers /
each with an irradiated fingernail /
capable of melting a 3/4 inch hole in cinder blocks /
and carving uneven shapes in floor to ceiling glass /
the cut-outs falling inward splintering /
puncturing in constellation patterns on the soles of soft feet /
is verse always aboil? /
a root fire burning without smoke or sign /
in vacant lots of refurbing neighbourhoods
time is too small to believe in /
said the extra spilling coffee /
on the 35 mm camera /
film exposed too soon /
before the image makes its case /
for worldly residence
how many fingers can fit in an eye? /
publish the results in the company newsletter /
dismantle the stairs from the top floor /
there are escalators in the common dream maintained /
by invisible staff /
I as 1 repeated /
until the weight is too much for /
the roof patio to bear /
then the sun will come in /
as a natural explosion /
of unlimited resource /
carving caskets in each mailbox
the mayor wears a hat 50 feet high /
it can see into the future to predict /
population explosions and market crashes /
infant baby rashes and confidence erosions /
the hat sleeps on a flat bed truck /
recharging neighbourhood batteries with mild nightmares /
and upgrading cafeteria menus for more efficient neuron firing /
the citizen’s petitioned for the hat to have a designated birthday /
but the north pole had something to say /
and flipped the planet upside down /
no one should measure pride by a hat
for those who are not born /
in a body /
skip the earth’s rotation /
find another mound to view /
the future’s chattering /
there’s little fund raising needed for reality / guarantee
the story on the shelf has well-rounded edges /
to avoid precise cuts /
molded to tempting dimensions /
as a similar warm wave before /
lapping to the lip of the sofa /
with a guarantee not to stain the quiet /
an industry barely filling the pool /
for shallow divers
please remove the clock /
and it’s alien arms /
for a want of a drip /
to mock seconds on the forehead /
the tap should receive a torrent /
not percussion from a dead star /
still hosting diminished living room rotations /
lift my name from any envelope /
to frame generations /
harvesting under a satellite’s direction /
there be the second moon /
reflecting a hidden burn /
another time waits, for now /
poised for its end
not to be nothing /
but to know nothing willful /
as unassailable as a meadow of knives /
on a third grade field trip /
erosion is a performance /
name each wave /
they are secretly alone /
each breaking free from the before and next /
what we long for is always between notes /
what I want is to eat my own skin
zero is a stone /
floating through power lines /
to be absent is the greatest talent /
the other choicest is a warring /
world of uncatalogued word /
where loneliness is the minor definition of alone /
to be not here /
loosens hold of the centre /
relaxing the air so more /
than one mouth can open
name names except slippery sod of Swinburne’s skipping /
that’s slicing birthday cake and taking all but the first stab/
whose stomach is so large to ask for repeats of history? /
my mouth holds more that your mouth /
what rings true outside the building is as long as the throat /
it’s the hand that grasps everything no one understands /
this is no longer news for day or night