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back against the wall
perfect position to write. not sure if the heat from this laptop will decrease the potency of my sperm. I do not need potent sperm at this time, or perhaps ever. wondering bout Neil Gaiman? Children’s stories etc. It is time for M&M, peanuts, yellow, mostly. A pedestrian poetics?????? Tomorrow is Monday. How does that… Read more
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some Sunday reading
some fascinating answers and questions . . . not the usual fluff: Interview with Sean Bonney some interesting new translations of the poet Grzegorz Wróblewski: Grzegorz Wróblewski Read more
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and now back to life!!!
now after a very intense month in London of nothing but almost mindless work my mind is coming round again. memories. Turkey. Italy. poland. nights of flickers and shadows. revising primitive pianos. lookin for a good poetry reading. will be reading at poetry cafe in covent garden in march with a bunch of other poets… Read more
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from the notebook
Treetop Flyers “not common speech / a dead level / but the uncommon speech of paradise / tongue in which oracles/ speak to beggars and pilgrims.” — Denise Levertov “A Common Ground” “A language / excelling itself to be itself” –Denise Levertov “A Common Ground” ————————– the anti-poetic for the peepsokthere’s beautya drop kick a… Read more
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temporary brain freeze
one month intense TESOL course. Two more weeks. Then I can think again. Got a gig for 10 weeks at a small college in Feb-April teaching students from Senegal and India. Yeah. New book coming soon from Harry’s Arthur Shilling Press. Poetry from 2008. Part Dante in London. Lots of areas in London covered. YEAH!!!! Read more
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from Smashing Time! (2nd go)
Karavan Amigos I’m crouching with the march of the penguins in a oversized parkaa world not yet deadI am not the erection of a eunuchthe buts and the knavesI’m dialing in and i don’t wanna say ithumba wombadry coughs from the radiatorare you feeling fitty?how this then methinkssomebody’s drunk my milkI am not yet the… Read more
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from Smashing Time! (1st go . . . .)
Karavan Amigos I’m crouching with the march of the penguinsin a oversized parkaa world not deadbut sometimes the erection of a eunuchas a wet tableclothas a community you deserve better prigsdeep down beneath the maniacal weatherabove the buts and the knavesi’m dialing in and i don’t want to say itdry coughs from the radiatorhow this… Read more
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from primitive pianos
18th Dec 2010(return to London) given what we have seenRyanair equals sardinesmy bag is in number 29and I am in number 3they are playing Mozartthe elf a stewardesswrapped in tinselselling everything“your captain invites youto read the card in front of you”i’m over my usual weighti didn’t do much with Italywhy couldn’t i have been Joycein… Read more
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28 dec 2010
WOOD GREEN. NORTH LONDON. the footpath bucklesthese are the markers who steps on my stepswe’re tailor made what’s in yr food chain? murals of an albatrossbroken shoulders as a community you deservebetter pigs and also stilt is it lazy to be placedwith the rats? oh this lifethis life we are all mostly all the erectionof… Read more
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possible end to Primitive Pianos . .. revisions still . . .
19th December 2010(London) I can’t quite tell you where I have been what’s left to I can’t quite tell I left my finger on the start button and the washer wouldn’tstart we have you in the asylum in the anthemsof the serious objects are closer than they appear fry my loose endsthese words are a… Read more
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revisions from Trieste
7th October 2010 I am a lucid lucya listless chill in the gloaming with a thickening of birds I am the slap of the line the buzzing of mopheads I am that short espresso the shaking of tailsthe yoke yellow walls spread out the window I am a cough a sniffle an old man’s head… Read more
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long live the Captain
<a href="http://www.realitystreet.co.uk/kens-blog/the-captain-and-monk">CAPTAIN BEEFHEART Read more
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slightly older (unfinished)
15 December 2010 under the salty moonfull on pizzawith salty doughpeople comminoutta train stationwith wheelssunday returnsgone thickergone thinnergone itchywith winterand doghairsyr sentiments are nice but not surprisingideas are sandin my bathing trunkswhich i don’t owni was due to returnto Turkey but hereI am planning for Londoni am thatperky little pugbarking at shadowsi am here and… Read more
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older ones (unfinished)
6th December 2010Via di Roiano, Trieste I am a tense cannibal think deeperabove the furyhop flop into hope30X30 illusionary surfaceswe have many minuteswe have you surroundedkeep swallowing your dog hair 12th December 2010Trieste train station park Novo Hotel Impero(left shoulder) stairs to tunnel(right shoulder) bench(ass) kebab ali baba(eyes) 30th November 2010Trieste Train Station Park fake… Read more
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last entry for trieste (not counting coming revisions)
16th December 2010 a little lovefeastbanging on invisibleheadboards the tired gruntsof a goldenretriever this goesvery slowly there are so manymolecules I shd be satisfiedat some point i am kickedin some stupid places let me thinkwithout bliss is a simple thing i take uploving the golden ones smellsa bit better from a name brand galaxy into… Read more
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from primitive pianos (Elblag, Poland)
Trendy Club (Elblag, Poland) put a hole in your skullsays Rogerthe lidis openbut where are my eyesmy balcony opensdelicious flavourswhat wonderful timingdon’t let themkeep you herei am giving youa ride homeI have not adaptedI envy my neighbourstheir incredible skill Read more
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Siekiera – Nowa Aleksandria
TEXT mighty fine band . .. pics remind me of my days in Poland . . . . Read more
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primitive pianos (Elblag)
Cardinal Sundowns tell me of the shadows hither in St. Nicholaslate in the eveningin the gibber and gabber with domino Roger late in the eveningbaba baba in the bean polesin the beetrootslate in the eveningwith the squawk and squeekof plastic knees on palmstwins of my bosomstittering and skitheringjimmied into shiny skinzim tim microclustersin yonder elms… Read more
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from primitive pianos (Gdansk, Poland)
Danzig-Gdansk an umbrella in my handa mirror in my eyescovered insmog this citychanges handsplay kiss mewatch all the indiekids in t-shirtsfor months I couldnot savemy blue lipsmy language lackeda futurea smite will keepfor a while me and my lightningflashesme and a toy cowyou can ridehalf drunkwith a mouldy old ghostin the houseof 100 beers Read more
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from A New Earth
Language consists of five basic sounds produced by the vocal cords. They are the vowels a, e, i, o, u. The other sounds are consonants produced by air pressure: s, f, g, and so forth. Do you believe some combination of such basic sounds could ever explain who you are, or the ultimate purpose of… Read more
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from the notebook (Italian section of Primitive Pianos)
21st November 2010 Pancakes provide solidity. Syrup is my get-up. Rain drips from the light swinging from a wire in the centre of the street. The bora is returning. My bum is cold please close the window. Hello world helloi’ve tried to re-upmy realitiesare short livedi’ve not liveda story Mew is playing on my broken… Read more
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from the notebook (Italian section of Primitive Pianos)
25th November 2010 Trieste Doggie Park a gooey ganglialived in creepy innsno guts for creedsI threw away the plasticthat housed my szynkahaven’t brushed my teeth but I’m on my feeta dumb shinefor the haughtyis that you in front of mecoming backfor exactly the same?I have a nameI have been given a namemore than oncetried to… Read more
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from primitive pianos (Elblag, Poland)
Whatever Buzzes the BrainSopot, Poland (August 17th 2009)for Magda Bethge this is the fishthis is the beerthis is the wooden tablethese are the rollerbladesI snapped you one-legged nearthe lopsided housethis is the beachfeet dig deepinto sandwe used to meet in a communist hotelwe bowledwe spiritedmy hand is on your shouldermy hand is in the framethe… Read more
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from primitive pianos (Gdansk, Poland)
Danzig-Gdansk good morning gateswet wet stonesmouldy old ghosta toy cow you can ridethe weight of a post office after the showplay kiss mewandering through gatesand side streetslong way to city limitssluggin a sackcovered in doghairwe reach the house of 100 beers Read more
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from primitive pianos (Elblag, Poland)
September 2009. Elblag, Poland. Cardinal Sundowns thank you for comingI wanted to say somethingabout the shadows of St. Nicholasthat Roger spottedwhile swallowing beatsfrom the beat machinelate in the eveningall the older women in the grocery storestaring at phone creditI have no idea whyI am happeningat the dinner partyI ate Polish Indian currymy knees were reacquaintedwith… Read more
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from the notebook (Italian section of Primitive Pianos)
15-11-2010 Trieste Train Station signs: MAXIMILLIAN RESIDENCEJOLLY CAVOURROMAALLA POSTA Elisabetta statuesupplicants and musesshe has a perfectrumpplus two plucked breastsbearded man beside herin old agebut still sportinga six pacthis is halfwayto Decemberand the lightfuck itwho cares about the light ———————————————– these are collapsible sticksbooooooooooooooooooooooooo———————————————– where in the worldto watchit goit’s not so badto feel my visionslippinout… Read more
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from Irish Ninja
as a rule my other half-lifeex everythingin the era of hairspraythe situation lies on both sidesashing into paper cupscontemplating the windowsAmerica my Dairy Queen Read more
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from the notebook (11th nov 2010)
how good it feelsto stuffthe cabbageI’ve tattooeda squintof humourbelow yr nipple watch this space:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::my fingerstouch celestialjuice———————————————————–Concrete Pier (Trieste, Italy) across from the Piazza Unitasittingon a metal mushroomsculptureteenagers in shaggyclothingsit on a concretepierlooking out overlight and ripplesbora gone quieta circle of blue lights from steady traffici write with neongreen penipod shuffle spinning in my earthis is… Read more
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Prague Microfest 2010
Great time in Prague. What a city!!! Picked up some fab books and met some super cool folks. Louis Armand and David Vichnar, Holly Tavel, Jason Mashak, Richard Tippen, Ondrej Pilny, Joshua Mensch and others . . . . good readings . . . some interesting film screenings . . . great walks around the… Read more
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from the notebook
14 October 2010 all the mornings of the worldI’m savedsocks are holy bee stings are not my tongue has drunkthe lust of yr race ———————————————–supreme lucidity: when the lightsdie down a camel ravishesa goat and in the encyclopedia ofyr brown eyes I find a no-moss mind—————————————————this is my Italian translation: Easter is marriedto Hades but… Read more
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off to prague microfest tomorrow
friends made a nice wee chapbook of selected work called Primitive Pianos :-) flying from venice. staying 2 min from the old town in Prague. 6 nights of poetry. Prague here i come!!! Read more
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Prague Microfest 2010
The 2010 Prague Microfestival features readings, music and film screenings, with performances by Irish-American poet Marcus Slease, Berlin poets Donna Stonecipher & Alistair Noon, and Prague writers Hana Androniková, Holly Tavel, Thor Garcia, Ken Nash, Laura Conway, Louis Armand, Joshua Mensch, Stephan Delbos, Sara Quiroga Navarro… Films by Stephanie Barber, Bill Mousoulis, Abigail Child, Henry… Read more
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new work in progress
Trieste when Joyce left here his Dublinwas complete occult bread on a platterspasmsin the inlet I let out a yawl in 23 accentsand my past lives left me what gets inthe eyes: a saucer of lightink smudge on the Victorian walls my pigeons oh my pigeonswe hover over lost pointselse hoover up the antics we… Read more
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prague microfest 2010
heading to Prague to read some of my new work. check it: Prague Microfest Read more
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trieste 6 oct 2010
a newspaper soaked in bloodor oilor gluedto a balloonor fishedin vinegar she got fired upwe got fed he got listless chillsfrom the magnum opus there is proof in the half note in the not quitemagic of another spoof Read more
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reworkings
DREAMS INSIDE A CUCUMBER i nay say i took and so we all must on this pre-dawn marriage bed in a trembling Turkish noon Read more
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Nerve Fibre chapbook coming soon!!!
my new chapbook Nerve Fibre: London has printed . . . yippie . . . hurrah . . .a bit of Dante . . . a bit of purgatory . . . poems written around tube stops while i lived in London . . . with some great old pictures of London transportation . .… Read more
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LONG POEM IN PROCESS
1. Eski Yeni Their bodies were made from a slice of toast, the kind you put under roast piegeons (Sartre, Nausea) I’m writing to you in this weather among buckets of bumble bees I’m with slow tonguethese leopard skins are not my people children squatters & shoe shinners sinners oh my sinnersthe little twirpssingA NAY… Read more
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slumps
Three weeks of not writing. No. perhaps four. And wondering if I can still write. That’s worst time. between projects. Just working long hours at a language school. now moving into friend’s house for a while until my paperwork is sorted out with the state university in Ankara. might not have internet for a week… Read more
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Oh Turkey!
Hamam oh Cemal there are no candles on a navel stonea man grew me frightenedin the manner of chips I was friedand I became the method of sandpaperand I didn’t expect this from my facesloppy seconds from buckets of water an idiom of red spotsaspirations of presencein this way I was wiped clean Read more
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new poem in revision
KARAMAN (Anatolia) the city is under construction. the newly planted trees provide no shade. students pack every morning into the dolmus with peasants and workers. In the centre new buildings go up and look old before they are finished. nothing matches. we sit at a table with Turkish tea. glass cups. redish tint. a gypsy… Read more
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Quick poem from my notebook
AMASRA the dijinns are relativethis is affecting a lot of peoplenear youa good wonderfulkismettoss yr hairsqueeze meoffcheck that fish with lungs ***************************************** i met your moodsout to lunchspices of the black seafish with coca colaa tinkling of knivesthat mountainmade pregnantwith Zeusfog *****************************************you were an armfulslipping out the balconythe flies won’tleave me alonei’ve an inklingto becomea… Read more
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hot shit from Poland!!
Adam is a mighty fine poet and translator . His translations of Grzegorz Wroblewski, A Marzipan Factory, were just published by Otoliths. He has the touch with Wroblewski’s translations into English. I dig it. No doubt, if read, many more will dig it!!! Tender elliptical Kafkaesque dramatic situations spun oh so well!!! witty, charming, slender,… Read more
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refreshing report from Soundeye 2010
I have often had a discussion with non-poets and their feelings after attending an innovative event (reading or festival) and they reported a feeling of perplexity. Not because they didn’t enjoy the work. Some hated poetry, or at least disliked it, but often really enjoyed the variety of work at an innovative poetry event. No… Read more
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Barry Schwabsky
in response to a review of Tom Raworth in which the reviewer argues that so-called difficult poetry is anti-capitalist and difficult “modernist’ poetry carries more political weight than the movement/mainstream poetry in the UK with its easily summarised themes and conversational speech and so on . . ..the old language school argument . . .… Read more
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Mugla
Mugla(Turkish wedding) born for the voiddry dolls fallaround methere are ikonsthere are ikons morehorrible than angels mangledin the trees the spermscentedgardens with goat’scheese the groom did the gorilla the bride pinedwith money the upchoke of sea scents the special chimneys what passesfor my mindballistic reportsas you disappearedeverything is not too ha ha melancholy wakings nowattack… Read more
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NO NAME
here comes the windthe blinds clacking like stuck penguins I’m sleeping with a flower venderon a moped with a bell from helllet’s part the hood and ride our Hegelian brides with the wicked smiles of those who jerkoff and off in solid white cloudy tissuesand the ashes of Irish mermaids, yep, them i clog alongin… Read more
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THE GREAT SALT LAKE
in this Karamandesert i’m beat beat there is a sweatstorm in my trousers and if you find yourselffalling apart there is a rain of mudand a lake of salt I’m posed and poppinglike a peacock what used to calmrips my life to ribbons my gut kicksmap it blind i can’t say it’s a sicknessbut a… Read more
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LATO 2010
what was the fate of the turtle gripping the talons of the eagle?do you miss sauerkraut stew?do you miss the bubbles of Polish beer?before you fall asleepchronicles spray against the white walls ofyon minda pensioner of the voidbroccoli dust on the night sheetsto be like plums in an icebox lazy PUG!my family owned peaches and… Read more
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readings
breakfast: white cheese, tomatoes, fresh bread, orange juice with a drop of wodka readings: A Marzipan Factory by Grzegorz WroblewskiSeoul Bus Poems by Jim GoarThe Story of England by Tom Beaumont JamesI Too Went to the Hunt of the Deer by Lale MulderSmall Gods by Terry PratchettNausea by SartreNadja by Andre BretonGangway 40 (expatriations): http://www.gangway.net/40/index.shtmlCleaves:… Read more
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Antalya
ANTALYA I’m writing to you in this weatheramong buckets of bumble bees I am trying to write as ifsomething is happening to you these leopard skins are not my people I do not understand your way of turning an animal curls up in silencereality cannot be forced I bought a jacketeveryone kept calling us German… Read more
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Gangway #40 – Expatriations: The expatriat edition
some poems from Primitive Pianos (Polish section) in new issue of Gangway: Gangway #40 – Expatriations: The expatriat edition Read more
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ted berrigan . . . found poetics . . . .or keep the monkey greasy!!!!
art is recontextualization underwhelmed???? NO WAY MAN!!! Read more
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EXACTLY!!!!
And I am always trying to think about how to write. As if starting over again. So that I am using different modes all the time and seem to resist doing what I know how to do, resist using modes I may think I have gotten good at. In some visceral way, my feeling is… Read more
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EDA (from primitive Pianos)
EDA (Istanbul) Adana kebab is sizzling behind me in Sultanahmeta man in an all-white suit gets his shoes shinnedI’m skinned he speaks of Kurdish and Armenian symbols animals & patternsSilk. Wool. Silk & wool. Crosses. the azan prayer booms from mosque to mosque in surround soundI move among the crowds of Taksim I run my… Read more
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Mind Sores 4th or so revision
MIND SORES eagles search for turtles to drop and crack upon the rocks this is a tangible instant of a pure orgasmcracks in the hands of a moviestreamthe body of a cracked doorsun crackles across this country of mosquesdirty scientists gather a genesis of lightcracked armies attack the honeycombshow fast the summer passes with drumspeons… Read more
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Mind Sores 2nd draft
MIND SORES eagles search for turtles to drop and crack upon the rocks this is a tangible instant of a pure orgasmcracks in the hands of a moviestreamthe body of a cracked doorsun crackles across this country of mosquesdirty scientists gather a genesis of lightcracked armies attack the honeycombshow fast the summer passes with drumspeons… Read more
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from primitive pianos
dawn’s kingdommaketh me beside the rancidwaters swift with myantlers my tawny bride engorgeme Read more
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from primitive pianos (3rd draft)
DETOUR(Karaman, Turkey) here comes the windthe blinds are clacking like stuck penguins in an Anatolian desert this plywood mouth moves the soul ala ala the soul in mouldy chariots and crumbling zeus bricks superstars of the civil wars Read more
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from primitive pianos (1st draft)
Celestial Teabags(Karaman, Turkey) there is a sweatstorm in my trouserscelestial teabagsofficianadoswise onesthe sun whosesubjectis neurosisflames of disenchantmentthe blinds are rattling sexology sigh it is hard to keeptrack of my buttons reality is a sandwich stuckbetween my knuckles i’m in facta thing a thing in this mountain towncovered women & more goat cheese cross women slapping… Read more
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Artangel | Stranger in a strange city: Janet Cardiff on The Missing Voice (Case Study B)
Artangel | Stranger in a strange city: Janet Cardiff on The Missing Voice (Case Study B) Read more
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lovingkindness
think like this: “May all creatures be happy and safe,May they all have happy minds. Whatever living things there are –whether feeble or strong,long or short, whether stoutor of medium size, whether quick or green,whether big or little, whether seen or unseen whether those living near or far away,or those being born as well as… Read more
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fantastic new book of poetry by Grzegorz Wróblewski
Grzegorz Wróblewski’s A Marzipan Factory A Marzipan Factory is the most original and enticing book of poems I have read in years. It is Kafkaesque and yet tender, cynical and yet warm, elliptical and yet wholly immediate. GRZEGORZ WRÓBLEWSKI can take the most ordinary of phenomena and then give them the twist of a knife:… Read more
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original poem in English and retranslated from Turkish back to English
Gluttons (original) It is 03.28 on the second day and my fridge is full of Pınar Doğal Yoğurt. There is a haze of lights outside my window. I’m at REAL shopping centre. Prayers crowned the air. I was a translated clam. This is where the world’s nuts are made. I’m waiting for the ruins of… Read more
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poem from Primitive pianos via google translate
Gluttons Bu 03,28 ikinci günü ve benim buzdolabı Pınar Doğal Yoğurt doludur. Benim pencere dışında ışıkları bir pus olduğunu. Ben REAL alışveriş merkezi daha kötüyüm. Dualar hava taçlandırdı. Ben tercüme istiridye oldu. Burası dünyanın fındık yapılmış olmasıdır. Ben bir Roma hamamı kalıntıları bekliyorum. Ben Augustus tapınağı bekliyorum. Ben Secure Confident Geleceğe Anıt bekliyorum! Herkes sert… Read more
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revised from Primitive Pianos
Hamam(Ulus, Ankara) the upchoke of black crumbs thesemelancholy wakings nowattack the nipplesin the Hamam a manslapped mewith soap bubblesand scrubbed my face with sandpaperred dots spot my backwhat is raki without rhyme what is lion’s milk what are bluejays without Hermes my hymenamenthe peopleare still movingunassailed theyare free in their pussiesand crocks free to lovein… Read more
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From Nerve Fibre (South Korea 2005)
Flying Bird Teahouse (Insadong) the sun on myfinches the feathersin my cup less plumbersmany electricians an evening performance of fruit sellers Utopia Spa cold poolsskating shakesheated floorwooden pillowsstrawsleather lumpsunsheathedpale drainagenever stop winking Read more
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From Nerve Fibre (South Korea 2005)
Itaewon searching for nan and Russianspot-bellied smart and tartZen Blud lust dhar ma top-ped rice cake orange fish eggs & salmon slices oh boy as regards this meathole tonked up testy & smiling mind finds a home on the grounda beard between me & my mouth cramping at the knee swamp grass yogi-YO! the allegory… Read more
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Australian explosions
Q. And have you any belief as to the purpose which the authors had in mind in writing the Ern Malley poems? A. They claimed to be hoaxing the members of a modernistic culturism. Q. Don’t you believe that Ern Malley’s poems were never intended to be serious work at all? A. I have no… Read more
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reading with Tim Atkins, Marcus Slease, and Holly Pester
ahhhh now this is what it is about. community!!! Miss this poetry community. Openned was an amazing resource for innovative British poetry. A bit like the Poetry Project in New York City. But alas someone rich bought the space and there was no more art space. No more Foundry. Here are some video clips from… Read more
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revised from Primitive Pianos
MOVEMENT AND MOTION to get from the ship to the wave is a motion the movement is what happens my lover is movement what is a motion of a lover if not an apology for death? I has many notions movements take place inside the coalshed else inside a coal cooker a coalhead the paint… Read more
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Peter Orlovsky (1933 -2010)
PETER ORLOVSKY <a href="http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/peter-orlovsky-namaste.html“>PETER ORLOVSKY 2 This is how I wanna go at the end . . . . . alas of course . . . we don’t have really have a choice . . . a life lived!!! Read more