Daily Archives: July 6, 2008

T or F

True or false:

the more easily a point of view
can be described in terms
of answers to true or false questions,

the more evil is inherently available
to the holder.

True or false:

This is a poem.
A poem is musical truth.
Truth is detectable in any situation.
Truth is a fire that cannot be quenched.

Regrets that emerge at sunrise
can be planted and cultivated
until they become lemons.

Lemons will become lemonade. A sow’s ear
will become a silk purse.
Reform
will follow devastation.

True or false:

Holiness comes from white pine needles,
dried red muscles
from a badger, a rattle
around a fire, whistles
in a disco…

true or false:

God is in the details.
Details are overwhelming.
Big Gods need big pictures.
To draw the big pictures one needs
a broad, broad brush.


New Crazy Dog Songs, #6: Tonsure Chant

marvelous
and revealing
are my outgrowths

every nail on my picking hand
agrees with me
that they should stay long and clean
and my fretting hand’s nails
submit to the clippers
as if they were tiny monks
shorn close for discipline’s sake

but every hair on my head
is unlawful as they come
shouting at odd angles
“what you got for me
bring it dog and
i’ll fuck you up”

i offer the work of
my soft hands
self-righteously in public
as my head offers
evidence that while
what i claim to honor
is careful utility
not so secretly
i greatly admire the loose insanity
on my dear old
rat coated head

because i can tell myself
that it reminds you all
that atop this artist
lives the devil himself