On One Leg (House Beautiful)

The Lauder Family Cardiovascular Center, Mount Sinai, Nov. 14, 2020

prokofiev cobham & darnielle circle one’s
crown blue llama equilateral winged
what have we here
seen? a photo in a photo in a magazine
metaphor boils the pot
after a jot spills its ink hung
over an fim-92 stinger which
like i said before is no metaphor
at all al gore despondent speaking to late modal fords
don’t forget mass production the cruelest beard
a habitat in the atlantic city convention hall
and curly beautiful ambulances free myself
today and forever from human
immobility masked up in constant whirls
a plagiarizer a bad speller pfizer hopping
on one leg from star to star i swing red radio
to blue gamma alongside a humming horse’s mouth
a plagiarizer paul reiser needle in the
armed to the teeth breasts
elbows draped over that still missile botticelli
like a real goddess of love cuts my tongue
into 8 poppy flowers and marches south
to war for the winter who do you think you
are tarantula swagger carpet bagger
meowing hoarse chuff chuff chuffing at popular art
cart me ashore saint bart of the ozarks

Chistsomis (Crystal)

Wikipedia Poem, No. 957

Bamoun Duala Ewondo
Igbo Kikongo Lingala
Yoruba Sango Twi
become a good dreamer, 2019

tissue
from cloudless skyango twi i am the made-thing school of lion. i needed a title so i stole one i needed a title tops; variable dimension of fish; neon; no tric and acronyms
we image
so i stole one i needed a title tops; variable dimensions; are we know
ied compression of fish; neon; no tricks; implication of fish; neon;
no tricks;
implication of fish; neon; no tricks; implication of
fish; neon; no tricks; implication of
fish; neon; no tetric acronyms
we know ied compressions; are
we
talking about the made-thing about the rooftop bar; i
am the rooftop bar; i am the made-thing about the made-thing school of fish; neon; no tricks; implication of lion. i needed
a title tops; variable dimensions; are we know ied crane scrapes human
tissue from cloudless
skyba sango lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo
igbo kikongo
lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala
ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala yoruba sango lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo
kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala
ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo
igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala
ewondo igbo kikongo
lingala ewondo igbo
kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala
ewondo igbo kikongo lingala
ewondo igbo kikongo lingala yoruba sango lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala
yoruba sango lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo
lingala ewondo igbo
kikongo lingala
ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo
kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo
igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo
kikongo lingala ewondo igbo
kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo
lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala yoruba sango lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala ewondo igbo kikongo lingala
ewondo igbo kikongo lingala
ewondo
igbo kikongo twi i am the made-thing of fiber school

Mention Yeats in The Chat, Win The Golden Ticket

Wikipedia Poem, No. 901

about
that reference he retracted
presumably he lives in the paint
after 15
seconds:
samuel leo i got hard interred rectangles beneath the living? where anime women
stare at polygons beneath the
two thousand and seven ps3
video game appeared to say: i got hard
as a hip hop thang

seamless lo-fi hip-hop
thang about
this name: samuel leos
i got hard in the video game appeared to say: i
go
hard

interred rectangle beneath where them servers at?
after all
those rectangular references—the phrase’s in play: just holler
donations come from
a moderator named:
samuel leos messages
is he?
where
anime women stand
in the diagonal rain and cry

Someone I respect is putting on a play.

Wikipedia Poem, No. 853

37.131

put on a play
pliant appeal

so what is
putting on
a
play

grow through here
and
grow through there
crystal-sutured words

i’m sure he
can drive the honda
crv

its lithe dogwood takes root
in these crystal-sutured words
i’m sure he
can drive these crystal-sutured words

i’m
sure he can drive
and grow through these
i’m sure he would speak
for his
name

i respect fully
biodegradable materials
the honda
is lithe
lithe dogwood
take root there

and grow through crystal-sutured worlds
i’m sure he would speak for his name
i respect putting on a play
lithe sun

no one remembers himself
among these crystal-sutured words
i’m sure he can drive
and grow and speak for himself
among crystal sutures
the honda crv puts on a play

the dogwood
takes
root in crystal-sutured words
i’m sure he can
drive there
and grow through a play

the
dogwood takes root there
and grows through words
speaks for himself
among crystal and names
i remember his name
i dismember toward antlers sewn to bureau

and if i
don’t comment
toward ritual
the ritual has begun

Bacon Weave Quesadilla Is A Genius Low-Carb Hack

Wikipedia Poem, No. 840

softlight

jumping about;
jumping 
in and down, jumping in and down, jumping in 
the air.iffly at the air.r flailing about;
jumpinning in any direction, jumping 
in and down, 
jumping straight up and 
        down, jumping 
stiffly at the air.s 
straight up and down, jumping the air.ng the air. ther or kicking their togethe air.ng 
their togethe air.r kicking in and 
down, 
jumpinning about;
holding in and down, jumping their 
arms 
stiffly at the air.ing 
in and down, jumping stiffly at them about;
jumping in and down, jumping thrashing their sping their sides or sping them;
keepg their sping in and down, 
jumping in 
and down, jumping about;
jumping about;
jumpinning stiffly at their togetheir arms 
stiffly at their sping them about;
jumping them about;
jumping their torsos rigid 
      or flailing straight up and down, jumping them about;
jumpinning in and down, jumpinning about;
jumping about;
holding their togetheir together or flailing 
         the air.ing in 
      and down, jumping in their legs togethe air.up any direction, jumping the air.m about;
holding their legs togethe air.their legs torsos rigid or spinning their legs togethe air.ping in and down, jumping 
        about;
       jumping straight up and 
down, jumping in the air.eir legs torsos rigid or kicking them about;
holding 
about;
jumping 
about;
holding about;
jumping in and down, jumping 
in and down, jumping in and 
     down, jumping their legs togetheir sides or sides or sping in and down, 
      jumping 
about;
holding about;
jumping in and down, jumping them;
keepinning their torsos rigid or torsos rigid or 
sping them;
keeping them;
keeping 
the air.ng their arms stiffly at them about;
holding ther 
or torsos rigid or torsos rigid or togethem about;
holding ther or 
torsos rigid or flailing straight 
up 
      and down, jumping 
   the air.up 
and down, jumping in their arms stiffly at their torsos rigid or 
      kicking them;
keeping 
the air.igid or 
sping about;
holding ther or togethe air.rection, jumping them about;
jumping their togethem about;
holding in and down, jumping 
about;
holding in and down, or kicking in and 
      down, jumping 
in and down, or torsos rigid or them;
keeping in and down, jumping them about;
   jumping thrashing ther or spinning their togethe air.os rigid or kicking about;
holding their togethe 
air.hing their arms straight up and down, jumping in and down, jumping them about;
jumping 
in and down, jumping them;
neat

You Later Mention Deer (Lara Glenum)

Wikipedia Poem, No. 835

CornetteRollman

this is father i am inbetween this is my name is my name is father i am inbetween this is father i am inbetween this is father i am inbetween this is my name is father i am inbetween this is father i am inbetween this is father i am inbetween this is father i am inbetween this is father i am inbetween this is my name is father i am inbetween this is father i am inbetween this is my name is father i am inbetween this is father i am inbetween this is my story because i tell it and you listen or do not:cause i tell it and you listen or do not:ere to follow their

or outside or outside or outside or outside or outside or outside or outside & how many dogs & cats & cats & cats & cats & rhinos? language permits imagination hat wall is the wall is the animals you could take it as straight bleach & say dogs & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & rhinos? language permits imagination at wall is the animals you could take it as straight bleach & say dogs & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & cats & rhinos? language permits imagination hat wall insid

it is folly to connected as the next connect the transience of use? permanence of use? deer / it is the landscape my mouth free of the permanence of use? proximity is they maybe in proximity is the transience of the landscape my mouth free of use? mention deer / it is the landscape my mouth free of use? tense of the next connected as the landscape my mouth free of one noun with the permanence of the landscape my mouth free of one noun with the transience of use transience of one noun with the next connect the permanence of use? in proximity is folly to connect

circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle circle square all square — if they do not seek balance they do not abstraction of not seek balance they do not abstraction of not abstraction of not seek balance the upstairs monster imposes it for they do not seek balance the upstairs monster imposes it for they do not abstraction of not abstraction of not abstraction of not abstraction of not abstraction of not abstraction of juvenilia of knots

scale of burning flesh get on a scale of burning flesh get on a scale of burning flesh get on with life take a step back pulp thread & needle weighed across time on tvannum roll over rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover the volcano roll over the volcano roll over rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover rover

Amplify: Something in the Way: A discussion of Amiri Baraka’s ‘Something in the Way of Things (In Town)’

*UPDATE: Now with video!*

 

amplify

Knows me? You knows Amiri Baraka is the grounding voice. Fascination. inspiration. Baraka’s work shows the way forward—we so often lose the way. Freedom.

“The real problem is you don’t know the real problem.” Remind us: Keep peeled.

A great podcast was released sometime: William J. Harris, Tyrone Williams, and Aldon Nielsen join Al Filreis (always generous) to discuss Baraka’s “Something in the Way of Things.”

I’m delighted Filreis chose to play the version of the poem from the Roots’ 2002 album “Phrenology”. The album—I bought it from the Staten Island Mall on day one—was essential in showing this young introverted weirdo that his suspicions about people being easily defined was specious—contrary to everything my small island peers had suggested. Punk. Rap. Poetry. R&B. Soul. Sound collage. Techno. Profoundly compelling instrumentation. Music as preparation. As runway.

Hard to conceive I first heard Amiri Baraka’s words 16 years ago.

Anyway, the podcast discussion is accessible and criminally brief.

After I listened to it, I was sent back to my bookshelves to hunt down a collection of Baraka’s work from 2014—the year he died—SOS.  The hardcover version of the work collects some of the poet’s final poems. That’s how I’ll be spending my night.

I had to share it with all of you in hopes you might share it as well. Be well.

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For further study:

‘Leadbelly Gives an Autograph’ by Amiri Baraka

whitetrenchcoat

Pat your foot
and turn
            the corner. Nat Turner, dying wood
of the church. Our lot
is vacant. Bring the twisted myth
of speech. The boards brown and falling
away. The metal bannisters cheap
and rattly. Clean new Sundays. We thought
it possible to enter 
the way of the strongest.

But it is rite that the world's ills
erupt as our own. Right that we take
our own specific look into the shapely
blood of the heart.
                                 Looking thru trees
the wicker statues blowing softly against
the dusk.
Looking thru dusk
thru dark-
ness. A clearing of stars
and half-soft mud.

The possibilities of music. First
that it does exist. And that we do, 
in that scripture of rhythms. The earth,
I mean soil, as melody. The fit you need,
the throes. To pick it up and cut
away what does not singularly express.

Need.
Motive.
The delay of language.

A strength to be handled by giants.

The possibilities of statement. I am saying, now,
what my father could not remember
to say. What my grandfather
was killed 
for believing.
                        Pay me off, savages.
                        Build me an equitable human assertion.

One that looks like a jungle, or one that looks like the cities 
of the West.      But I provide the stock. The beasts
and myths.
            The City's Rise!
                                 (And what is history, then? An old deaf lady)
                                 burned to death
                                 in South Carolina.

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Source: Baraka, Imamu A, and William J. Harris. The Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka Reader. New York, NY: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1995. Print.