TURN BEAUTY TURN
D PRESS
PAGOSA SPRINGS 1997
Cover collage by Kim Secunda
TURN BEAUTY TURN
scandalous beauty
looks into her mind
with lion's breath
she chants
I'm not one
I'm three
you have to love
all of me
scandalous beauty
looks into her mind
spaced out, she sees
light in everything
so odd to reject
what's in the offering
scandalous beauty
looks into her mind
in yabyum
she faces front
I'm just you, Dad
with a cunt
scandalous beauty
looks into her mind
we know nothing
of one another
nothing
each is alone
high flavor, low flavor
one taste, no taste
white trash beauty
looks into her mind
garlic is the polka
of spaghetti
white trash beauty
you have flayed me
and beaten me with a club
I count my days
bite my hand and embrace
emptiness
you draw an arrow
I turn towards my bed
shot by the jealousy
in my thought
winds ravage within
outside
birds crack jokes
redhead
I see you at the drugs
buying ginseng wrinkle cream
I smell your hair
and despair sweeps me
into a lair of sea monsters
how can there be
such clarity and bliss
in weariness
terrified, I stand in fire
having ridden the wind
and kept your memory
are love and fear
indivisible?
I give you a kiss
you bite my head off
sentiment
filled with appetite
the sun is seen
the fun begins
stir blood
in a conch shell
when the lower part
of the moon appears
dance wildly
in the flames
no boundaries
no barriers
love is a dark healing
unclean but holy
RIGHT TO THE POINT
for Anne
what is the point
of low self-esteem
power facades
one crises after another
when you're dead?
spirit, sex, neither
either, my decision
not to manipulate
confuse or harm
CLEAR
for Bonnie
capricious horses graze
on pure mountain air
you lay on a bed
of pinecones and roses
the horses laugh
the river flows both ways
look where we live
WHAT WHERE IS HERE
for Jillian
I drive to Fairfield
a fair field
I drive to Riverside
a river side
I turn right, then left
our spirits meet
you laugh, I laugh
perfection is infectious
METHOD IN THE MADNESS
for Jane
I write, then I type
I retrieve, I retype
I cut and paste
images of real objects
a process of recovery
and discovery
a contemplation of silence
in this maelstrom of violence
POST DOGMATIST PUDDLE
for Cecil
all in order
on a plate of gas
Maxwell House
is avant-garde
PAINTING CLOUDS
for Pricilla
Clouds are familiar sensations
only their positions are uncertain
A pink diver circles Squaretop
a dark hood caps Little Brother
A chorus line of kachinas highstep
a bony dakini drinks from a skullcup
Soft clouds become hard
quiet clouds become loud
Lightning has struck her, so
she sings while she paints
ONCE
for Lynda
we would go
backhorse riding
when the horses
were boys
and the cows
were girls
the dogs were boys
and the cats were girls
etcetera
the ducks and the geese
the birds and the bees
etcetera
I was also pretty sure
Einstein wrote the Bible
later, things got complicated
TRANSITION
for Shannon
I make this a song
that vanishes woes
uncurses all wrong
and banishes foes
I turn the clock ahead
hello, Springtime
AFRICA
for Richard and Ilsa
when you come back
bring me a spear
when you come back
bring me a drum
when you come back
bring me a leopard
when you come back
bring me a spot of soul
bring me back, bring me back
Africa, Africa, Africa
CALF GRAFT
for Bruce
creations of ordinary reality
don't forget to burn the sun
whatever it takes
to get that steak to your plate
SAMSARA AND NIRVANA
for Kim
she's a Buddha
who uses aloevera hand cream
I've heard her say
"I need money"
then point to a double rainbow
in my heart
FURNITURE POEM
for Steve
start with two marks
wisp of a world
on the cusp of chaos
and in this corner
a hint of disclosure
about a continent in stasis
ambient poetry
elevator murmurings
SHRINE FOR JIMI HENDRIX
for Denise
a diamond guitar
spirals out of Sagittarius
a god in his constellation
digs the celestial choir
moving east
to meet in the west
DEJA VOODOO
for Ashlee
o never always
would the mind
let go
even the grass
will attain
Liberation
TOO LITTLE TOO LATE
for Corinne
waiting at the Liberty
how long have I been waiting
how long should I wait
am I early
am I late
or am I?
WARM LIGHT
for Brent
spring soon
still winter
still winter stillness
the brown ground moves
bees have no attainment
bees have no non-attainment
OUR NATURAL VIEW
for Ivy
nectar to our eyes
Chimney Rock, Archuleta Ridge
and the Continental Divide
as exotic as Crete
or a grotto on Molokai
we give our blues to the sky
to be and not to be
to be is not to be
flower of life
heartstream
do you remember
that rock, was it mica?
only a sparkle
only a sparkle left
flower of light
being of flight
small birds arriving
we stop to look at cows
a magpie hops across
a longhorn
you have a quick mind
and soft lips
I have quick lips
and a soft mind
that which is soft
penetrates that which is hard
promises
promises
