Why don’t the records go blankthe instant the singer dies?Oh, I know there are explanationsbut they don’t convince meI’m still surprisedWhen I hear the dead singingAs for orchestra’sI expect the InstrumentsTo fall silent one by oneas the musicians succumbto cancer and heart diseaseso that toward the endI turn on a disclabelled Gotterdammerungand all that comes…
Jacob had sturdy calves, moist hairy armpits,stout loins to serve the god whom she befriended,and was adept at wrestling. She worea cobra like a girdle. Yet his bonemending he spent some several tedious weeksmarking the bed they’d shared, with a great stone.
but I was never good at itpartly because my voice wasn’t rightbut mostly because my peculiarmetaphysical stupiditymade it impossiblefor me to keep believingtheir was somebody listeningwhen it seemed I was talkingonly to myself in a room no biggerthan an ordinary bathroomI could believe it for a whileand then I’d get somewhatthe same feeling as when…
I love those who’ve learnedto sit comfortablyfor long periods with their hamspressed against their calves,outdoors,with a wall for a back-rest,contentedly saying nothing.These move about only whennecessary,on foot, and almost alwaysin pairs.I think of them as oblates.Christ’s blood is in their veinsor they thirst for it.They have looked into the eyesof God,unprotected by smoked glass.
the usual ceremonies with coloured lights and sirens.Almost everyone is outdoors and strangers are conversingexcitedlyas they do during disasters when their involvement isperipheral.‘What did he look like? ‘ the lieutenant is asking.‘I don’t know, ‘ says the witness. ‘He was naked.’There is talk of dogs-this is no ordinary caseof indecent exposure, the man has been…
stumbling through tamarack swamps,came the bull mooseto be stopped at last by a pole-fenced pasture.Too tired to turn or, perhaps, awarethere was no place left to go, he stood with the cattle.They, scenting the musk of death, seeing his great headlike the ritual mask of a blood god, moved to the other endof the field,…
And they ask meIf it is raining.I didn’t noticeBut I’ll have to give themThe right answerOr they’ll think I’m crazy.
