Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Kristen de Kline #80 broken things and pints from the sun

yesterday I stole another poet's mosaic swirls
what was left of them    scattered shards
falling down     broken things  
walked over the remnants in bare feet
saw blood running from the scene of the crime

the day before there was somebody lying, stalled in your car
bonnet yanked upwards on a knitting-needle hook
a poster for a backstreet abortionist contortionist     yeah right
windows wound     down     white trash anthems rolling out
a stolen car reverses down a dead end street    
revs away from chattering sirens theme tune from Z-Cars     danger won't
can't     fall asleep

I'm stealing the third pint from the sun
not a scarf from Harrods or a doll from Lovecraft
I order one more      it's the fourth pint from the sun now    
scribble postcards from the edge on serviettes    I can't find the words
I want     gasoline's dripping  
getting tired of all the empty picture frames
somebody lights a match      slaps another lawsuit: here we go again
sunset's getting closer now

from a dip in Lawless Road
Courtney Love waves as if she recognises me  
picks up     stars like little fish  
throws them into the air
you've given up trying to catch the wind, stars    
fall     down, flounder on the tarmac
passport pages fly     weightily
from a high apartment block, leaning awkwardly     no really, I'm fine

a sepia wedding portrait     dangles    
on the living-room wall like a guillotine
getting tired of all the empty picture frames
may I have my cigarettes please, Nurse Ratched?
the hook on the back came from K-Mart
was that a tremor     it does the trick    
I need a fourth pint     danger can't     fall asleep      touch me
another pint from the sun another poem scribbled on a serviette
I don't find the words     I want     that doesn't matter
this will have to do


12 comments:

  1. Glorious. And every word rings true.

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    1. Down Lawless Road
      where the dead men left their bones
      down by the corner milk bar
      the hapless cashier can't make change
      the dead men try to retrieve their lives
      as if bones were change
      as if a shop were the rest of this life



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    2. lawless road came took me away
      prison was an afterthought
      mind is an encyclopaedia
      down the road a piece
      I wouldn't be bald except for her
      or writing this except for you

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    3. pity me at your expense
      I cannot imagine it
      a prick a ponce a price
      down lawless road
      maybe see you there

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    4. Where dead men left their bones
      down by the corner milk bar
      the hapless cashiers don't make change
      the dead men retrieve their lives
      as if bones were your change
      as if a shop were the rest of your life
      lawless road come take me away
      that prison was an afterthought
      that mind was an encyclopaedia
      so way down far the road a piece
      I wouldn't be bald except for her
      or writing this except for you
      but a prick a ponce a price
      it’s down the lawless road
      maybe see you there


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    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    6. Rob, I adore the poems you've written in response to Lawless Road - and of course also coming from your very own work on pints in the sun - please feel free to post them on the site too! They're fabulous and really capture the 'mood' of Lawless Road - love the hapless cashiers and the dead men retrieving their lives. Fabulous stuff! We could do a 365+1 anthology on the subject!

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  2. ...and parenthetically...is it ever parenthetically? What a wild read this will be. I hope to hear you read these someday.

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  3. Yes, just wonderful, swirls through the head and off the tongue!

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  4. make mine a pint a sepia
    for lawless men
    with hollow bones

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  5. OK Kit there's a pint coming your way -especially for the lawless men with hollow bones - and one for James and rob too. Pints all around - cheers!

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