text of new york poetry part 2

my brother would say - "i'm so
self ref." residential. instrumental
irreplaceable don't look at nobody until
you get out of the teleportation
device - return to nowhere where
i go when there's nowhere to
go - you know what i'm saying we
stopped the proceedings there's shows
in the park it just goes to show
that there's one thing worth doing
which is talking to people to make
up a new distribution of power
collective wisdom i know nothing
special i just gotta let you know
art i choke life i strangle not
willing to settle for any thing
really so you keep moving on


---


i'm rusted incomplete lack of
practice so i hit the books
with action scribbling hooks
for traction just to get back
into good working order -
you should be reporting on
conditions of the common
mission with a strong urge
to listen - comparatively i pare
down my gear to next to
nothing so i can function sitting
in public with a pen in my
hand chewing on caps
explosive reaction components
collapsing - a fire storm
retired for fueling entire
hoards of uninspired orcs
like carl orff down to the iron core


--


keep 'em waiting for insight
darling of the day without
canvassing - amassing a way
with a following - saying what's
on your chest - feeling feeble
and restless - over arching acceptance
of conditions corresponding to
the wishes of apologists - don't
give me no lip service or
condolences i ain't dead yet
i'm just staying still for the
art of it honored to be
a part of this honest
opinion generating system of
open idea sharing contributions
donated freely without
expectation.


--


i'm panhandling for opinions
a free marketplace of ideas
so what's the difference you
spare change of mental states
and tell me your theories
the frameworks for viewing
the world and your place in it
what you know about love and
friendship - your daily struggle
is commendable i'll recommend
you for promotion if you know
which way you're going - me, i'm
on the road perpetually hoping
to gain a foot in the door to
rent space in your brain - so
whats left, a place to stay
and the means to keep moving
never a dull day


--


thieves and whores now in
stores
miss representin'
please loiter here
and sell poetry here
people are so afraid
to even just acknowledge
each other
reality is pretty
realistic but it isn't
really real
so sit next to me
it's awesome
so let it all blossom.
i'll play fast friends
and find my ready-made
family forever


--


tomorrow is today
i swear to you
i don't say goodbye i say
see ya later
all is one hidden in
each little bit on and
off more than you can
chew.
the song called teach
me how to play
regardless of everything
you knew
so don't preach
man's grasp can barely meet
its reach
beyond reproach appalling
in it for the long hauling


--


defying description
definition definitive
mystery militant misery
symmetry see me try
see me do with a screw
loose see me lose my cool
against a carpenter's wishes
circumstances dictate that
i can't get rid of these
hiccups and downswing
-ing moods will turn around
any minute now minute
differences make the majority
of the character in comparison
calling a monster a martyr
is easier than adopting a
policy of promising what you
can do - attitude growling


--


imaginary city founding
trouble counting blessings
blanking out each reminder
across the plain over
the course of the day
you should ask him to stay
and be ready for the
burden of separation when
it's coming cause you
know we just can't stay
here forever when the
wind is blowing get a
sweater sneaking over
the turnstile left to
wonder what would have
happened if everything
working out how you wanted


--


spare some skins or swipe me
unlikely i get where i'm going
in slow motion too much force
is wasted effort be gentle
your will is enough without
violence i hear those thoughts
speaking a loft dreaming
a roof sleeping abandoned
building squatting silly
saw blades sauntering
toothless cross eyed cobble
stoned star fish rebellion
in cool breeze on a chill
night in your breast a
hold of me earlier you
should have gotten teach
me the syntax dorothy


--


no blank states untarnished
with money on your back
burner 'cause we as people
value other things and are
more concerned with having
meetings that'll never end
and returning to the source
of all creation breathing
deeply exhaling galaxies
gravitating toward common
sense epiphanies and
everyday victories amongst
country bumpkins turned
radical nomadic heroes -
must find the others
unite the tribes and
realize the undiscovered


--

texts of poetry from new york, part one

another one attracted
to the road side of life
slice of time righteous lime
twist of faith sketchy
in vanity same tragedy
games glamourous glimmering
shine shimmering twine
withering wise weeping
willowy wisps billowing
blathering buskering fits
brain dumping spelling bee
especially noxious compelling
repulsive ridiculous mission
accomplished with no accomplice
accosted corrosive battering
random access memory
enhancement

---

look across the river
with a telescope it's no joke
lottery ticket play a prank
saying grace giving thanks
for a bitter cynicism you can
be in love with. cinnamon
sticks shredded on french
toast and pancakes in the
morning retreat get away
practice just to make perfect
contribution noting observation
on a mystical quest saying
nothing helping you move in
notch in your bed post another
hole in your belt losing weight
on the road good thing i
hibernated so long

---

coming out of incubation
chambers killing your soul
setting the pace with relief
of a snowflake stained black
by the tar after your journey
write a book about sunday
rest a while too long make
a point to respond searching
outward turning in to see
a rich illumination of the
boredom so ordinary complaint of
the world depression is
seeking the wrong dream
desensitized to what's
really wanted the soul
yearning for freedom a
joint operation conflicting

---

command mistaken control
released contortion capable
sleeping uncomfortable distorted
reflection a fun house
result. spooking the neighbors
helping a friend. make
no bones about it self directed
approach to those problems and
making your lists better call up
your family just to settle your
worries in historic disaster
of malicious negligence as
opposed to graceful benevolent
elegance keeping composure let's
get serious here on the ghost
train seeing no end present
continuous tense unbroken

---

tie up your hands can you
free up your plans would it
kill you to dance don't you
know you could land if you
jump in the air there's a
pump over there so fill up
your flat tire and make
rubber hit road under
radar get low wearing scuba
sink slow burning laser heat
glow hearing sonar beep
blown out the watery cove
you just never know neither
do i, i know too many
words i have lust in my
heart you should gouge out
my eyes when i stare on the
train

---

your speed poetry and fix
it consumerism don't need
my blessing - i'm a bum with
no standing so i just do my
thing - there's no use in the
after we should just make it
so - i go solo i stoop to the
level of the stairs that you
settle i'm a colonist i colonize
your colony after the fact is
absorbed there's not much left
to do with the meter of dogs
in the oven a heater of homes
no regrets to rejoice over
doing your own thing to complete
only hopes only dreams only notes
take a message - i will build
the master sheets.

---

some thoughts on the task of living artfully

i've been thinking a lot about how to go about with the general task of being a good person and an artist in the world, and trying to foster some kind of net positive change in the long run. i've traveled around the us now for some years, talking to people of all sorts that i could run across, mostly bums and bohemians to be sure, but still trying to take it all in, and come up with some sort of median perspective that these people can share. i'm interested in what unites us. the things we need as human organisms that are central and basic. i'm thinking about creating spaces - people need spaces to meet and do things, to talk and dream together and plan, and what i've witnessed across the board is a wholesale scaling back of public space, with greater restrictions on what you can and cannot do there. there is an implied threat, that you cannot violate the city's idea of what a public space is for, backed up by an armed guard. i group this phenomena with a larger trend that i like to refer to as "the war on difference."

think about it. you have all these streets, all these sidewalks, and squares, leading to homes and shops, jobs and venues of entertainment. but that mall just can't float in space. it needs the public places to be valuable. all the businesses need all of that space in which travel from here to there is designated, but it would seem that more and more, travel is all those spaces can be utilized for. meanwhile parks have signs that prohibit rallies and gatherings without permits. well, what if a bunch of free individuals want to get together in a public place, and sit down and have a big picnic and give away food to bums, and not disturb anyone? how could you stop them from doing that? well you probably run into health codes, and ordinances of where you can sit and for what reasons, and if there's any central leadership or some kind of organization promoting it you've got someone to come down on it. all you can do is be moving from point a to point b. if you can just sit down, and take in all the people running around, maybe watch a guy do a magic trick, or listen to some folk musician play his guts out, or witness any kind of public spectacle that is a demonstration of free expression, you are essentially threatening the surrounding businesses, the movie theaters who would have entranced you for a couple hours at 10 bucks a pop. the shoe store that you could have lost yourself browsing through. the restaurants who would prefer you to not just buy some fruit and sit down and eat with your friends on a bench. all of these interests have some kind of sway on the city government who makes the rules about what you can do where, and if you're not contributing to the local economy you're taking away from it. the police will enforce these rules like they have nothing better to do. nevermind the cultural value of people doing these things, enriching peoples' lives, that doesn't have an economic metric to calculate and therefore doesn't really exist.

i have some ideas. i want to create tiny happenings, a movement of small scale spectacles that are simple enough to intuitively understand, at a size that the common passerby can participate in. i want to focus on things like food and water, and expression and entertainment, things that grab people on a visceral level that transcends aesthetic and culture and gets down to humanity at its core, the social animal. gatherings for anyone. flash mobs and art pranks, surreal and practical, all the same. a potluck in the park, initiated over myspace messages and sms txt's and email and hand bill flyers. a giant cardboard box fort on the campus. a "peanuts" style free psychology booth. a mass masturbation march on the white house. anything that people can get behind without arguing over causes - causes have divided us. i want to be fun, and spontaneous. i want to smile and compliment a stranger who looks sullen. i want to leave every person that i meet a little more motivated than before, and of course i want to be a bit more motivated by them as well. i view each transaction in society as a challenge - an opportunity to rise to the occasion of being an authentic human being. i think we owe it to ourselves and our future as a species. will you go out into your day with your head down, complying with the routine motions of your predefined spaces that you inhabit? walking into the super market, not upsetting anyone, filing in line to the check out point - all possibilities narrowed down to a predictable range - no better than a piece of some grand machine that only services you in an incidental manner? or will you demand more from your experience of humanity and society, and ask for just a little more each day out of your necessary interactions with the rest of the world? i hope that you encounter a place some day, that will encourage something like the latter to stir within you, and that you will have the audacity to scream, or speak your mind, or debate and question, or fall in love. i hope you take that trip to an unknown place. when you feel like you've arrived, you'll be in good company. there are more authentic living breathing free people in the world than we might give credit. good luck.