Aught, no. 13 (2004)


Glenn Bach

44

                             claxon
                    a kind of loud

                    horn formerly used
                    on motor vehicles

                           as in
                    “the horns of the taxis

                    blared”      pointed with
                    the horn and pointed

                              of the return towards
                    the noise      to this high

                    noise      this hard
                    communication

                    and it gives you
                    the cries of the loud-

                    speakers      hard of
                               improves      transmits

                    in rendering noise
                    this high noise

                    the hard grinding sound
                    and the cries

                         to the heavenly klaxon
                                     used previously

                    you heal
                             autokinetic

 

 

69

Worry about fires (termites, carpenter bees,
          carpenter ants).

There is no wood to burn.

Never replace your roof.

There is no warp, rot, or sag (a simple
          and fast erection).

We want open and flexible homes (poplar styles),
          an open system, any size, any location
          (enjoy year after year).

Choose one suit, your taste, brick and stucco,
          shingles or tile.

We want peace of mind in lightning storms,
          hot rolled bolted purlins, knowing
          every column and bolt in your family.

We’ve seen it all!

We can lose 400 years within 40 hours.

What do you have,
          the total opening,
          the cost of ownership,
          the new tenant or application?

There is no magic!

The reason is clear: all of your walls
          will be straight and true.

 

 

96

               car tires chirp
                      in sudden acceleration
                   oversteer, understeer
                         stay in a straight line
                                 with octane
                  the visceral acceleration
               the six speed trannys
                    the second quicker
the difference inside
    the plainjane suspension w/o
                 the staggered tires

              the only good thing

it’s worth a look to find threads
                                a touring application
       a hard launch
                                  a good stab
                                 a corner fast
        a bubble
                  loose chunks barking in corners
tomb quiet standing water
                  these howls
                               woefully supple
                               water moniker
                          anywhere, anytime

        i thought i was going to die

                     all winter last winter
                                       even in rain

 

 

114

picidae     the piculet
         the wryneck
      the woodpecker

Lewis’     Red-headed
     Acorn          Gila
            Yellow-bellied
                 Ladder-backed
           Nuttall’s Downy
Hairy     White-headed
                           Pileated

the sapsucker
            Red-naped Red-breasted
                     Williamson’s

the flicker
           Northern

           near passerine     over 200
                                   yoked     (two forward,
                           two back) or three-toe
                                                long tongue
                                            echo-locate grubs

                   a large family wood chisel
                 shock absorbing musculature
                 stiff tail feathers
                                         upright on trees

              woodland avifauna

                                   drill holes
        trap line from tree to tree
                  new nest holes every year
                      old ones taken over by owls
                bluebirds, wrens, chickadees

                                     a memorable experience

              rumors of the Ivory-billed or Imperial
                             last seen deep in the previous century

 

 

117

            books are not merely objects
                                  the un-linered back of the truck
                    sticks and pads sliding
                    the keys in the dark
                          innards and stumps
                 flying around     flying objects
                                     push means the clothes
                                  a box for the toys
                                                      table saw casters
                              clean bed of metal
                              crossbows          toy trucks
                   vengeful spirits
                              cart      dead and black
                                               full of trash cans
                                 spray on glass objects
                                                         trigger nozzle
  dry brush fired     cracking
                              slurry     like roadkill
                           cardboard boxes    overflowing crates
                              slightly weighted wooden
                         a rattling overrun and silence
           bazooka crates of armor
               the first sound a tinkling sound
                            small objects and some furniture
                     mass of food and refuse
                           several long tubes pointed      padded
                                      fired and exploded in a moment
                           singsong sound of little bottles
                                         smudgy, light leaking

                                        +++++

Early afternoon America
at day's end great shadows graduate, contract,
an earthquake reported like rolling waves,
coughing, shifting—

                      no hollering
                      no heavy objects
                      no sports equipment
                      no emergency gear
                      no contractor tools
                      no sonic booms
                      no rumbling trucks
                      no distant London

—half out the door hanging over the bed
stepping high and clumsy
rattling windows, pressure waves
flying across the room
as objects began to take shape:

            the far corner
            the clatter of glass
            the wide beam
            the perfect shape
            the long hooked objects of wonder
            the distant country
            the dry lake bed
            the mechanical problems
            the whole house
            the width of the bed
            a plenum of constructed objects
            a long burlap sack
            the computer speakers, some sealed, some rattling
            a new crash of thunder
            the rattle of tree branches
            the child who fell from the sky
            the downy beds of ease.

 


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