March 2008
VOL XVI, Issue 3, Number 179
Special Guest Editor this Issue: Heather Ferguson
Editor: Klaus J. Gerken
Production Editor: Heather Ferguson
European Editor: Mois Benarroch
Contributing Editors: Michael Collings; Jack R. Wesdorp; Oswald Le Winter
Previous Associate Editors: Igal Koshevoy; Evan Light; Pedro Sena
ISSN 1480-6401
Gnomix
by
Jack R. Wesdorp
Evocation:
Phandaal
pandelume
verhaal
gnome d'plume!
Exhortus:
Dixit exultate!
Hexit conflagrate!
Riddle:
I'm deep and cold
with little flames
and very old
what is my name?
God:
One smart cookie,
lucky with stuff,
nice looking,
good fucker.
Melody:
Her secret name,
mercury flame,
that she will spill
into children.
Proper Gifts:
The universe
is feminine.
She likes purses
shoes gems and gin.
Cookies:
She bakes main line
uranium
snake up your spine
butter cupcakes.
Bouquet:
If god invited me
to her shack for dinner
I’d bring her aconite
spikenard and linden.
Altruist:
I'll fix your bad,
make you feel great,
the best you've had
naked first date.
Carnelian:
Stare in this!
Shekinah
may we share
the same wine.
Faith:
She's never here
nor over there
under far near
she's everywhere.
Brochure:
Large loft for rent,
exposed rafters,
premises warped
by gravity.
Dark Matter:
Some of it yearns
for gravity,
unraveling
its persistence.
Light:
Not as much fun
as the black stuff
where titanic
banging gets done.
Starburst:
Palindrome
lightning rose
theremin
omphalos.
Steady State:
Life always is
everywhere now
crazy busy
wearing flowers.
Infinity:
She's a steady
slavering ball.
If you get it
you'll have it all.
Numbers:
All things as,
every move,
truthful, fast,
and heavy.
Relativity:
The faster it go
the older it get,
it has to be so
or nothing am yet.
Nunnie:
To cross the abyss
you can come through me
if you kiss my slit
I'm pretty yummy.
World:
Cooling molten slag
crumped into a ball
spinning through blackwolt
jewel wanderer.
Galaxies:
Pretty curls
on grownups,
little girls
that don't stop.
Black Holes:
It's full of stars,
harbor hookers
in kitchen bars
where witches cook.
Snot:
Every durn party
something big blows,
starlets with heartburn
or god her nose.
Carbon:
Wizard sparkle
dragon ladder
mirror Image
trackless wander.
The Hoopsnake:
Pretty important,
don't take no shit,
not even the lord
makes love with it.
Seventeen:
Fool of life
lives alone,
fucks herself
into stone.
Calleth:
Sister dark outside
other like than me
ride in my crafting
across yon abyss.
Gulf:
She hails from shore,
"courage, sailor!"
He comes across
by coracle.
Dichotomy:
Divergence of light,
apposite views,
lionheart courage,
flight of phantoms.
Beelzebub:
Take your flies and split!
I conjure ye beast
by snake-tongue toad-spit
there's dung for your feast.
Adamant:
Adam and Eve
on an island,
they ain't leaving,
yeah they're smiling.
Great Mountains:
Olympus
Veneris
Erebus
Glimglaris.
Monsoon:
Hailstone torrent,
narrow channel,
angel hair falls,
verdant forest.
Wizardry:
Om nobis exult
to our greater good
consecrant fexit
by fire in wood.
Unicorn:
First to be named,
horny as hell,
cannot be tamed
except by Belle.
Bees:
Adorn me!
Gild the world
with jonquil
sweet color.
Seraphim:
Eden is lost,
I got the word
straight from the boss.
Don't cross my sword.
Murder:
You'll balance that
with your next life.
Would you rather
it's noose or knife?
Rot:
Slime and smut first,
molds pretty fast,
volva lips pursed
toadstools come last.
Sphincters:
Don't leak, piss fast,
or crazyclaw
will chase your ass
and eat it raw.
Prometheus:
Sly fire giver
with an iron rod,
don't like fried liver
since he pissed off god.
Wings:
They went quacky,
practically all
except jackie
pterodactyl.
Swarm:
Birds, cicadas,
sometimes lemmings,
word is that space's
humming with men.
Menu:
Lionkill right quick,
lightning fried wombat,
bunny on a stick,
duckie someone's mom.
Cat:
Watch door,
stalk foe,
score snatch,
know all.
Cave Door:
Sling stone spit
don't you dare,
we sear our
T-bone rare.
Garden:
Blue maize
dried gourds,
private
storage.
Shell Mound:
Aeons of
meet our niece
lovely one
wedding feast.
Pottery:
Share a crab
scallop shell
turtle bowl
yellow ware.
Chocolatl:
Devil brew
finger lick
lefty good
flicker blink.
Migration:
Following
mastodon
leaving gall
where we've gone.
Blood:
Pretty scarlet
good for smearing
captives altars
whorelips and spears.
Primal Gods:
Mauna loa
helter skelter
holy joe
mamabelle.
Reality:
Dreams cut in quartz,
atomic hands,
pomegranates,
deep ox cart ruts.
Saraswati:
Pavilion carpet
embroidered bunting
harps to celebrate
a triumphant hunt.
Vardon:
Brookside estate,
smiling children,
stay still awhile,
duke our future.
Circus Troope:
Our king invites
you to dinner;
show us bright things
of where you've been.
Pestis:
Mau Mau mosquitoes,
tarantula pox,
mad cow all the meat,
dead cacklebird flocks.
Liars:
Vermin wicked scum
won't trust you again,
may your yellow tongue
burn in hell amen.
Priestcraft:
One for all
you play good
with my ball
understood?
Cuicuilco:
God's fire
spiral down,
die not what
handed round.
Fear:
Grendel is coming
to getcha my dear
with her horrible
scum-bitch butcher gear.
Sorcery:
Boogie foopa
in fire wood,
evil stench poof!---
everything's good.
Possum:
Far away thunder,
aliens at war,
maybe having fun,
unaware we are.
The Osirion:
Probably one
helluva haute
gazebo
for his boat.
Atlantis:
Falling moon
tidal wave,
typhoon sky
shadowpall.
Key Holes:
Your very first fuck,
a few without love,
those that spew rockets
and where there's no stuff.
Gates:
Iron that reads
arbeit macht frei,
pearly you plead
right when I die.
Doorstops:
Little stone dog,
loaf of stale bread,
troglodyte oaf,
fresh severed head.
Drudge:
Grit sorter
park lotter
drum porter
shit rotter.
Rude Sounds:
Septic tanks,
sauerkraut,
chimpanzees
ranking out.
Whiz Kid:
Slingstone thing
capture slave,
I'll be king
happycrave.
To Do List:
Steal embers,
grill beaver,
leave gently,
invent wheel.
Matches:
What skein is this?
A fairy's wand
that offers flame
when fondled so.
Magickal Places:
Ring of Brodgar,
gibraltar falls,
antipodes,
nowhere atoll.
Views:
Flandersfield,
stonehengedawn,
lightning throne,
panpiper.
Pharaoh:
Incest weirdness
bearded lady
pantocrater
snake demon crest.
Vault:
Clay tablets,
papyrus,
granite slabs,
surprise crap.
Babel:
Proto european
romani sanskrit basque
otitis wedged between
cathedral temple mosque.
Funky:
Clotted oaf head
with overtones
of ammonia
and rotting bone.
Plague:
Mangy feller
wears a weird hat
don't trust strangers
kill all them rats.
Warlords:
Play political
with the loot,
jolly lickety
rootietoot.
Bastard:
Dad sent me
to wed your kid;
he's glad to be
rid of me.
Mead Hall:
The bishop welcomes you
to his trencher and salt,
if you drink too much glegg
and puke fish that's your fault.
Poisons:
A little
for fun,
a lot
when you're done.
Great Wall:
All that turfwar
jerkwater
gorilla fort
didn't work.
Wyrd:
Your reward
corresponds
to the sack
you covet.
Longboat:
Arrogant prow,
elegant hull,
avowed skellach
dragon hunter.
Huns:
Wild horse men, feared
as wanton boors,
reviled and smeared
with lurid press.
Heads:
Burn the pope,
kill the king,
bring a rope,
hang that thing.
Machiavelli:
Hi gang
wonder
what bum
to hang.
Taxes:
Blood from farmers
so he can wage
murder war and
pander his rage.
Sedition:
Bomb the barracks,
lynch the lawyers,
hench men, bankers,
and royal scabs.
Gun:
A coward's means
espoused by scum,
junkies, dumb teens,
and governments.
Cannons:
Deep dead business
rips at our breast,
red pestilence,
for this we weep.
Trenches:
There was one christmas
when they all sang,
we still regard this
with plangent awe.
Book-burning:
A hyena act
didn't work either,
then the leash went slack
suicide leader.
Trinity:
Oppie quoted,
"now we've become
death incarnate."
I'm adding, "dumb."
Syllabus:
Donald duck,
kid named huck,
asimov,
nabokov.
Campfires:
Hot dogs and beans
coleslaw for lunch;
smeared on your jeans
marshmallow crunch.
Bedtime Stories:
Rats on patrol,
what hitler did,
screaming battles,
shit, sweet dreams kid.
Criminal Acts:
Harpoon gun,
titanic,
911,
world bank.
Blood Drive:
Must be healthy,
not smell of eggs,
legal to sell,
walk on two legs.
Worse:
Bonzo's straightman
neutron bomb ray
gunslinger hand
way to go ron.
Real People:
Brooklyn dodgers,
grateful dead,
fred rogers,
first rate hookers.
Tim:
Marathon trips
sergeant pepper
happy hippies
reverend ware.
STP:
Engine goop,
stand to piss,
unhinged dope,
hysterics.
The Sixties:
Indian teepee
revival,
skinnydip fleeting
bee hive jive.
Welcome:
Hands at journey's end,
november table,
pagoda lanterns,
bethlehem stable.
Hippie House:
Fabulous
drafty walls
rabble snot
lotta balls.
Rawk!:
Basic four four
three chord structure
freakout more so
your beak ruptures.
Altamont:
Omega mick
biker traffic,
final rictus
of like laughter.
Oil:
Wunnerful stuff,
makes yer car go,
skulliver snurf
crowing for war.
Corn:
As demented
as gasoline
dead class warfare
mob ghetto scenes.
Evil:
Vatican,
bechtel spawn,
macdonald's,
and exxon.
Global Warming:
Choking glare,
pet icebergs,
poaching rare
white bear fur.
Yellow-cake:
Costalot dish
fissionable
chocolate frosted
on the missile.
Cookie Jar:
Mine's bigger
better snoot;
we can lick
your pig brutes.
Hardball:
Hydrogen boom
dim sun rattle
rentaplatoon
threaten battle.
Football:
Screaming mud smeared guys
in ogre mufti
scrimmage for a prize:
women, beer, vogue stuff.
Beer:
Megabomp want some please,
cause for celebration,
impromptu pregnancies
and civilization.
Jeep Heaven:
Nimble
naked
women,
no brakes.
Cheerleaders:
Holy hot damn honeys
cavorting on the grass
courting pole, money, and
who's got a slammin ass.
Pheromones:
Here boys!---bone up
getcha hot cunt
better hurry
spot splatt moan grunt.
One:
It's the first thing
we talk about,
gimme a ring,
he balk, she pout.
Debauch:
What kinda drug's that,
cocks in hot water,
yep I'm getting fat
hope it's a daughter.
Stupidity:
Ain't no shortage:
pissing upwind,
swindled plaintiffs,
aborted kids…
Daycare:
TV
not me
gang head
bang! dead.
Smear:
Let's park the brood
at camp lesson
and stick our snoot
in macwesson.
Geek:
Primavera
gonna explode
herring in cream
pie a la mode.
Mirror:
What's that for,
dad hates mom,
got no date
for the prom.
Vows:
Girl of my hunger
early each morning,
first when we were young,
now that we're promised.
Photo Op:
Hurricane surf,
girl you just kissed,
and uncle perv
in your sister.
Blinx:
Nessie eats a sheep,
the grim reaper smiles,
oil heat gets cheaper,
soylent greenbean trials.
Hope:
Middle aged
failed suicide
marries kid
HIV bride.
Famous Boinx:
Leda and the swan,
king kong you betcha,
them lecherous dwarves,
and satan prongfork.
Rape:
Certainly mister hyde,
little red riding hood,
juicy ripper tight skirt
leave the boots on, pussy.
Tomatoes:
Grew em out here
fucking A right,
keeps ya teenie
screwy skintight.
Ostara:
April drizzle
daffodil dance,
grail with his shape
on wizard glass.
Fertility Spell:
Fits about right,
come hither kid,
prowl around nights,
when in doubt, knit.
Karmic Warning #2:
Incest is confusing,
cats do it all the time,
and pretty amusing
except where it's a crime.
Mendel:
Faggot rooster,
lesbian hen,
spruce up yer act
or the line ends.
Voo Doo Doll:
We favor candle wax,
blood cum blind eyelids hair,
baptize with zombie pox,
its grave hidden nowhere.
Voo Doo Hand:
Cut off a thief's hand,
set it just like that
in a crock of sand
with bitter salt fat.
Booger:
Scrabble bulging door,
rabid hackle dog,
fangoll carnivore
skulking in the fog.
Black Magick:
March march everybody march
make my enemies be dead
charcoal goddy damn sharkbait
red-stain pope-robe miter-head.
Adverse:
From sea to shining sea
Be all that you can be
From whom all blessings flow
and Hey you never know.
Glory:
Mostly dead kids
and all you flock
forced by shitheads
to swallow crap.
Vet Letter:
Johnny Q came home fried
from the great war trenches,
since he's a suicide
you don't rate his pension.
Bell:
Only at covens,
carols at weddings,
and holy office
like tolling our dead.
Epiphany:
[click] Electric
bobs overhead,
you've recognized
what god just said.
Rachel:
Booger snots
hell to pay
hope it's hot
go away.
Malthus:
Tenement cough
bloody spit
you piss me off
eat this shit.
Nutrition:
Recycled krill,
snipe soaked in crap,
vitamin pill,
tapioca.
Kwashiorkor:
Flies in your eyes,
mom's hand feels cold,
every one dies
before they're old.
Flies:
Just doin' our job.
We like hot pets,
why don'tcha kill dobbin
and let'm rot.
Cigarettes:
Most addictive
dope I know,
gets ya off quick,
kills you slow.
Peace Process:
We'll give you this stuff
guaranteed enough
to burn you suckers
into glowing muck.
Pilgrimages:
Cathedral trees
stonehenge at dawn
tomb of jesus
avalon moon.
Please:
String christmas tree lights
on the pentagon,
sing carols that night
and make war be gone.
Antarctica:
We'll never! make war
in that awful place,
nor in the weft of
moon mars mines or space.
Tokamak:
Basic physics,
a real star drive,
killer business,
we have arrived.
Prophecy:
Mecca goes blooey,
don't act so surprised
we know what you do,
then medina fries.
Hyena Bastards:
Emperors
presidents
damn cesspool
governments.
Bureaucracy:
Like king kong
blip file these
move along
next hoop please.
Limbo:
The great green greasy
limpopo river,
wading to a beach
where only birds live.
Pisces:
Loves to hang out in
terminal places,
ain't into bowing
to time, worm, or space.
Swandive:
Stroboscoptic
hop skip and jump
bop drop slope hope
suspended bump.
Other Options:
Lots of ‘em,
never not,
some of 'em
short and hot.
Signposts:
Holy cow this way;
high road to monksville;
tower or prison;
alley to dumpster.
Train Station:
Silent platform
after monster,
lantern greeting,
graffiti tiles.
Reincarnation:
Enter into pyramid,
shelter go hide
inhabit in here close lid
pretend we died.
The Basics:
Pretty good drugs
in paradise,
no mutant bugs,
champion nice.
Shore:
Always terminal,
sometimes a ferry,
alabaster worm,
no time to be scared.
Dragon Hoard:
Invisible hat,
bottomless wallet,
big ass slartibart
whatchamacallit.
Roister:
All of these are your mansions,
fields of barley, fulsome grapes,
aphrodisiac dances
with odalisque shadow shapes.
Dottle:
Tobacco scoria,
churchwarden dregs,
slackjaw euphoria,
wobbly legs.
Landed Gentry:
Howling cannibals,
indigenous scum,
bandicoot snouters,
aborigines.
Pig and Pander:
Hoot hoot the fleet's in,
everybody works,
congenial greetings,
godless scenes; loot; corks.
Bendy's:
Big basilica drum beat
all that summer beer in port,
fresh bread with obvious meat,
they's a friendly sort out here.
Inventory:
Rakish do mop,
thingie in gear,
no fake boob job,
did you bring beer?
Wish List:
Horny fifteen,
eat like a horse,
rainbow sheen skin,
never get bored.
Sacrifice:
Cot. All rise.
Syringe thorn,
do not cringe,
mother's eyes.
Thymus Blastoma:
This is the cell line
whence longlife takes root.
Please. Treat him kindly,
his name is Rajut.
Pontifex:
Those who want it
can have it.
The tontine goes
to Ravi.
Parthenogenesis:
Go pollinate
your therebint;
don't need no mate,
don't really care.
Soon:
Science and Art
burn with one flame,
kids get born smart,
god alle same.
Immortality:
You get real careful
with your backup sys,
maintain a bellaire,
don't get on no lists.
Last Epitaph:
Hissylout
moneydud
he went out
pissin blood.
Marble:
The best we boast
to scroll your pass,
allay your ghost
with holy mass.
Domiciles:
Tunnelcan,
kivadome,
damnbunker,
roaminvan.
Great Addresses:
Peg leg alley,
the borzoi ridge,
havasu falls,
rue sortilege.
Portigo:
Basilisk
threshold eye,
historic
graceful sign.
Ships:
Iridium hulls,
receding shore,
black hole propulsion,
infinite lore.
Trex:
All sorts of questing beast
far into the ozone,
big bandersnatch at least
and slarketh long-noses.
Geomancy:
Move the asteroids
a little closer,
lanthanide alloys
we want some of those.
Reefer:
Exotic pharmacy
brought back by rumpot gobs
in the discharge of war
during smuggling jobs.
Watering Holes:
Saturn hilton,
pluto hotel,
milliways grill,
frosty's in hell.
Fibonacci:
Aboriginal
artifacts,
smaragdine
tablets.
Phenomena:
Jewels of ophir,
galactic bazaars,
betelgeuse sophont,
flecked budgerigars.
Cyborg:
Artificial heart,
molybdenum knees,
smart sexual parts
attach as you please.
Accessories:
Electric broom,
nuclear boots,
streaming vidloom,
behemoth zoot.
Schizophrenia:
The more nanoskin
the better you feel,
last time I scanned him
my balls were still real.
Time Travel:
Negative wyrd
gravity drive,
already here
when you arrive.
Infrequencies:
Organic virgins,
original stock,
crooked energy,
stuff that really locks.
Enduring Names:
Einstein,
begoom,
sonshine,
roomi.
Extinct Jobs:
Analog artist,
menopausal bitch,
narcotics banker,
suspicious doggie.
Resumé:
Altar hostess,
outpost minstrix,
window model,
body smelter.
Objets d'Art:
Hoover sucker,
driveway blower,
drain unstucker,
riding mower.
Magical Things:
Flitter wing,
rainbow pot,
infinite
microdot.
Map:
X marks the spot,
key that unlocks
genie bottle
pandora box.
Gypsies:
Calcium,
human spores,
nepali
wandelore.
Flux:
Diaspora foment
silver seed aswarm;
in the dome of heaven
spiders warm their need.
ALFs:
Gullycrabs,
gabblegulps,
bulbous glands,
and snaggers.
Home:
Trek the hourglass
to terminus,
take a flower
to breakfast.
Fountain:
Bluepelt therebint
comes to wash her child,
man that hari's mint
everybooby smiles.
Genome:
Green pegasus
for your birthday,
long legged tusks
not seen on earth.
Transmutation:
Lead into gold,
nuclear fuel,
never grow old,
lotus bloom jewel.
Pergola:
Grapevine trellis,
carved marble couch,
matched dining shells,
two apes crouching.
Niknax:
Pet red dwarf,
model bang,
rainbow jar,
dragon fang.
Keepers:
Telescopes,
honey bees,
faith and hope,
rectious knees.
Clox:
It don't matter
if they tix,
we ain't gotta
measure nix.
Hermuts:
We wish you all well
stay away from here,
if you must raise hell
bring morphine and beer.
Martian Maxim:
Infinity
can't be filled,
but a tontine
can be tolled.
Pandelume:
Fabulous
magician
who granted
our wishes.
Inheritance:
Radioactive dust
tracked across the carpet,
lichen encrusted sand,
forsaken parapets.
Wrecking Ball:
Cannibal orgy
at the rococo
where we gorge on man
just before he croaks.
Museum:
Spacious gardens,
immense palace,
marble staircase,
little closet.
Trove:
Odd derelicts,
some bioplast,
scary pictures
of the last guy.
Ravi:
Downriver,
don't look back,
we have lived
our praxis.
Etymology:
Tagalog,
polyglot,
gekkodog,
protomek.
Sculpture:
Delicate waif
in rhodalite,
our favorite
soul taking flight.
Vehemence:
Kyrie pestis,
malmsey is revived,
lux tenebrae est
psalm among the hives.
Organa:
Reverberation
diapason
adoramus
steropticon.
Meknos:
Graceful curved art,
putative dint
of saturn quartz,
faceless footprints.
Gauss:
Fantastic
sparkle-soul
specters haunt
whole planets.
Digs:
Robot idols,
pedestal gods,
broken lightning,
abandoned pots.
Omphalos:
Hitching post
of the word
where holy
ghosts are stored.
Last Supper:
Courtly dances
by hippogriffs
and nyphelhyme
grazing the oort.
Balance Pan:
Did we do alright,
is it worth again,
must you judge the pride
of our witherken?
Embers:
Remember when stars shone
and we were free to live
patrin-bent to a stone?
I'd give my throne for that…
Libation:
Fleur du mal
morphine drip
dragon's blood
in a flip.
Azrael:
All impartial, boss,
move along down there
more are possible
you're all gone? Farewell.
Flowers:
Hyacinth,
pomplemoes,
terrebinth,
theradouce.
Music:
The last song
that matters
is a long
caterwaul.
Entropy:
When everything stops.
No! is the word
and the bottom drops
into nowhere.
Catalog:
Gazillion forms
oombogagill
flying goworms
mostly killers.
The Weight:
Arthropods were big,
spider forms with brains,
longpigs not so hot,
bit-knot in the skein.
License to Depart:
Put the book down,
look at your butt,
don't hang around,
this gate is shut.
Heels:
God's tired feet
brook no tracks
nor look
back.
Appendix:
What's this slitty hot
bit of oh! bang! snot?
2 / 8 / 2008
Post Scriptum
Gnomic (Gr: "opinion") verse is curt and concise, summarizing
the truth of reality, ranging from divine expression to common
experience. Among the Greeks Lobon is notorious, but his collection
is lost; the marginata of Theognis point at other putative masters;
Pythagoras wrote some on the nature of infinity; and Sophocles
expanded his meager threads into broadcloth drama. Persian and Vedic
poetry abounds in aphorism and much of Snorri's Icelandic Edda is
gnomic. Hans Rosenpluet wrote a scandalous priamel series at
Nuremberg ca. 1450, and there's several collections of English
Maxims which embellish the morality plays. Oriental minimalist
haiku has flourished since Bashõ (1644-1694). Most of the world's
gnomic verse seem to be springboards to extensive ethical discourse;
some are magickal (note the Aphorisms of Patanjali); some are prophetic
(cf: Nostradamus and Daniel 9:27); and some are actually funny (Nash,
Murphy, Hallmark). One could argue that mathematical formulae are
absolutely gnomic---perhaps Einstein is our best poet. Musical
tablature is symbolic brevity transcendent in scope. What god writes
in her diary when she gets home from work is where I plug in.
Do thou likewise. : )
*
Copyright (c) 2008 Jack R. Wesdorp
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YGDRASIL: A Journal of the Poetic Arts - Copyright (c) 1993 - 2008 by
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