engagements (a stretch) [2010]

I've a dull ache in my lower back

there are many conversations

which do not include I

— this includes no one

for some

posturing does not consider the spine

and is therefore incommunicable

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(what is all this sniffing

snorting

and sucking?)

"I am speaking tall     in a stiff language     with a straight message:   
                                                                                    being broke is not the same

as assuming it"

(it is a communication

like the beating of

native drums)

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COMMERCE

for an other

as through a window

posturing and fear

is assumed

and is expressed

in sequences of

staccato notes

rendered on

acoustic guitar and

bajo sexto

Unemployed Musician Trades Instrument for Soup!

for others

posturing is a concentration of

all that is wrong with them

(I is a wrong) (your is a wrong) (the berries...   

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outside

some smoke and communicate

while others

kick at the ground

failing to say what they mean

every Monday and Wednesday

(it will most likely never be a nighttime language)

and what of listening?

as I am still before you

can you recall     in numbered sequence

the notes of my speech?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

"giving me your back communicates submission     and without a proper stretch     
                                                                                                              can spell defeat"

COMMERCE

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we are all lies to one another — 

spoken costumes stretched tight

across our asses

and engagements

there are those who accent them

with a tilted cap or a cinched collar

or with purple straps (hung flapping texts)

a black turtleneck

and a set of headphones

over the listening tonight

there is an incessant screeching warm cost $1.89 
                                                                                                                  (tax exempt)

a distant unknown music clutched rather than 
                                                                                                                  ingested

and the sound of water in the fountain the cold was 
                                                                                                                  priceless

COMMERCE

and for a few

posturing is a compensation

for work well done

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Dear Sir -

It has come to my attention that you have been suffering from chronic back pain, and I would like to take this opportunity to offer myself to you in service.  I have been an unlicensed chiropractor for over thirty years, and I have worked with many Communards and professional tradesmen.  I also enjoy chicken soup, and, from time to time, play bajo sexto in a flamenco band.  Please help me.

Sincerely,

I

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...and still more sweet berries     weighted     

fall from your tree

I am aching bent     and mute

loan me your sweet speaking

for my voice

and we'll talk)

"I answered my satanic doctor, jeering, and made it out the window.  All down a

landscape crossed by unheard-of music, I spun my dreams of a nighttime wealth

to come."

— Arthur Rimbaud

my back has gone out