INTRODUCTION
Klaus J. Gerken
Midnight Fantasy
CONTENTS
Penelope Talbert
a moment with nature
creation
dancing with strangers
Stephen R.
Helsinki 1
Hakaniemi
Limp
A bus
Royce Sykes
TRANSMIGRATION
VERSE AS FIBER
SUNDAY OUTSIDE THE DAILY PLANET
RUBY FALLS
Christopher Mulrooney
the great days of revolution and whatever
towards a theory of subducted equipoise
faux gazebo
the conversation speaks
Elizabeth Krueger
Funny Mirrors
Mike Kemp
She was
urban romeo
Days of wine and sorrow
moon, pain and pool of blood
Gabriel Serrano
Magic and Loss
The Bullet Man
Writer's Block
Annie Lehberg
When A Woman Loves
The Voice Of My Spirit
A deep-rooted yearning
POST SCRIPTUM
Klaus J. Gerken
3 "Penny Pounds"
KLAUS J. GERKEN Midnight Fantasy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And the princess all lost in a curtain of light in the dark land of Urizon's plight dances -- followed by the wizard and his fair-haired lancers alone from a land of oblivious chances where life is a cycle repeated for the pleasure of gods as she dances -- And in her steps follow the Amazons one by one beyond the fullness of reason without comprehending the time and place for their treason And she dances inside the warm midnight like Shakespearian snake-charmers or a delay And from behind the moon the eyes of Oberon hold all at bay to gather his potions for Titania's eyes for so long gone is the spaceful earth on which she lies And the slumber of the feast crowds upon her in a realness and a vision alone at rest beyond the earthly decision of who to love and where to go or hide the pain (do not show...) But from here by her innermost dreams fairness--loneliness is all that is her being And so it shall be as so it seems. Jan/Feb 1969
Penelope Talbert a moment with nature ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ beware yesterday where things reverse stretch laid out on a laboring rock pushing its grandness through clear storybook waters my reflection resembles no one i recognize frailer than the mirror liar my outing rustles through the leaves tossed about among rumors of coming drought nature and i having a moment of commune breathing each other
Penelope Talbert creation ~~~~~~~~ we've been swallowed by nothing amniotic emptiness with the realization that we are so insignificant black space blank space cosmic silence - we are alone floating through white dwarf afterglow the echo of our measured breathing is the creation of sound the probing reach of touching fingertips the creation of life shattering our loneliness - we are alone
Penelope Talbert dancing with strangers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i've been mapping out the last few days scaling down the moments and minutes into a breathtakingingly concise legend the mossy green of a saturated spring rides the wind into a fractured window and polka in funneling unbalanced spirals i've never been in a whorehouse or even close but i have the most magical image of red velvet and strangers groping strangers after that i don't think about it because the beauty is the dance far more exquisite than the music
Stephen R. Helsinki 1 ~~~~~~~~~~ fins babyblue Cadillac convertible Currency for it to roll by top down hair dyed up Fabianinkatu outside the Exchange. The Exchange of glances with the woman twentyfiveish in the backseat in this American Cadillac in Helsingfors in Helsinki in Finland in Suomi. Markka keep me here fed with babyblue out of time, out of place.
Stephen R. Hakaniemi ~~~~~~~~~ June, and I put on my overcoat. Past this is language. The dog does not understand, "Sit." Pale yellow, cobblestones. Agglutenate. No matter -- I can ask for a cheeseburger and directions to the telephone. What cold 180 days from now. But now, this walk, this street, this light.
Stephen R. Limp ~~~~ escalalator teeth and sidewalk blocks. Tree roots. Twist. Twist. Shout. Look. Look. Look. Luck. Curbs. Cement. Stand no look. Stand. Hold the rail. Rail. Look down. Risers. Rise. Gait.
Stephen R. A bus decades ago, a serious 20-mile trip, suit and wingtips, dust and heat. All of us known to one another. Neighbors. The road around the lake. Pull off -- my mind howls. Four cups turned upside down in a square, 2x2 in my head. That's all. Run down the aisle and off the bus. The wingtips sink in the lake. My wife speaks to me from our backyard across the water. One mile, and she speaks next to me. Love beyond all I know. Call our son outside. My wife tells me she is pregnant with twins. We are going to a funeral. When I get home I will sleep a week.
Royce Sykes TRANSMIGRATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ steel stallions and mechanized mares race home before the storm along dusty asphalt trails, thunder stench of exhaust and ozone in their wake while within fragile souls freedom dream to shrilling stereos; rain begins, cowed resignation settles in on urban herd as it jams; at the hour, up comes a cud of news to ponderously chew while wipers cadence numbing rhythms; a gradual clamber over ramp, slow steer home, while carefully corralling thoughts away from those mavericks madly weaving in and out, charging undaunted into the night and vistas of something other; the sound of their swift passage over wet pavement, a wind whisper nay to this transmigration whether real or tenacious illusion
Royce Sykes VERSE AS FIBER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I listen to a friend, who more than incidentally, writes some pretty terrific poetry, telling me how the verse flows as if by magic and she never needs revise it; on my plate glitters what was hidden in daily bread, crunchy bits I grind through night and day until somehow they seem to come out in a sort of pain less like birth than a battle with intermittent constipation only won by sitting until numb though within burns and bleeds as those razor edged pieces fall together into some sort of window on the world that looks like nothing more than a mirror from which the backing has been scratched away in places; some it seems, write from dreams, others for sheer relief.
Royce Sykes SUNDAY OUTSIDE THE DAILY PLANET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thought I'd buy a newspaper when an old man on the bench outside the store asked me if I could spare a buck, gave him what I had, a five, and figured before I headed home, maybe would sit there a moment myself; he just looked at me as if I were some kind of loser, grunted and sniffed and finally got up with a show of great reluctance and shuffled off towards a family taking in the neighborhood sights; even though he could not bring himself to share a recap of the day, he did not offer change.
Royce Sykes RUBY FALLS ~~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes this solitary camp on Ruby Lake goes flat, grows stale. It's then I leave foamy wakes along the banks of Golden River; shoot through pools and drift past the bar hearing without listening to wildlife calls and intimate babblings --though have been known to stop and trade trinket memories soon forgotten. Yet always seem to find myself back at that place I'd like to lose: Ruby Lake of unspeakable beauty and undertows of memory I fight but don't escape, even in the red, red wine as I see her stroll through flotsam washed up on a ragged shore of dreams. The trail I followed here is now overgrown and gone; I'll not find it again. I know that soon must make my way, a new one, away before some current takes me to that branch ending in Whiskey Falls.
Christopher Mulrooney the great days of revolution and whatever ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ah what fiery trains in your head only that’s what you have your staff for ideas they come and only have a go on your say-so hee ho hah-ho I say the turtle green swards have holes in the middle in the middle I say remove the flag I putt over the trees the gasbag and on it my signs over the clouds the moon the abyss everything oh abolition of whatever pleases you everything I see here as goes clashing everything I see here pleases me it goes in the papers the TV everything else I see here goes on everything else the radio computers bus benches we know where they stand because they're standing there where they are and we're standing here you and me if you were standing over there that's where you'd be if I'd be standing there I would have things differently you know I'd made a few things work out smoother or so I'd have a few things smoothly run whatever I'm made of that's I'm glad to see not whatly or whyly but howly
Christopher Mulrooney towards a theory of subducted equipoise ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The World Turned Upside Down and then The Great Tortoise bites its own tail with rumbling and fireworks hence Himalayas and continents isolating men ca. 1970
Christopher Mulrooney faux gazebo ~~~~~~~~~~~ the grapehead laughs ha ha ha! I smell cat upon him the maker of bulls rejoins UCLA girls also here are the bolges and the masters winkbye S.H. the chopper and the slab the bucket-shop economy ‘has he traded in aught foraine?’ counter-spec "the mercantile Gehenna" tinhorned ponder are the darkling-famed Kilroy not so blankety-blank 1985 buildings still going up in 2000 from designs by Venturi etc. decades of critical theory back to nickel Angelo
Christopher Mulrooney the conversation speaks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ the conversation speaks conversation speaks do that thyself whither shall away do myself the tapioca doors and walls rubied falsely it is an accompaniment a veritablement of the dream of all its critics impermeably for the sinking roof the spectacle of it rankling the gross outrageous fortune and mesdames les faires and mesdames les chères quoiqu'il y a carillon of upturned water glasses in the hand of the waiter the banshees next door and spectacular the fright the fear the stoicism what would you ah I see don't you know slabs of paint the good works Italian workmanship at the Biltmore done up topped-off plain as the day it was made in 1923
Elizabeth Krueger Funny Mirrors ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Journey filled alliances with unmasked continuity flutter by like translucent butterflies blindly ensuing makers of the repulsive dollar and coin. The importance of the insects' unimportance drives us through rush hour pondering the suited man picking his nose or the obese teenager belting her memorization at the windshield wipers. Alliances are decorated with colors as a trip to buy 1% milk is entertained by a 5 year old boy lurking amongst the dairy section, and his Mexican mother bellowing in spanish "No, you cannot have the yogurt!" Tomorrow, the bathroom mirror with specks of hard water and crest should revert to a funny house mirror distorted like the carnivals they live in, so we might find ourselves to be translucent butterflies with noted alliance to the bright color of the Mexican woman. Would rush hour be different if dollars and coins could buy only funny house mirrors? Then, would dollar and coin and the obese teenager seem less repulsive? Be colorful. Buy a funny mirror. Drag Her fingers were throbbing on the burning cigarette. I stepped outside and watched. I've never seen anyone blink so slow. As her eyes closed she took the drag, and it seemed as if the world was so releasing in there, As if someone were kissing her neck when really it was just the calming sun toasting her hairline. Then reality unrightfully burst into smoke as she breathed out all of the other world into this rusted steel cage surrounding her ungenuine happiness. Her head turned cautiously toward me, and I sighed and melted back into her heart. Sometimes it is so devastating to take that last drag. and people think it's the nicotine Unconscious Dancers I watched you sleep the other day. It was late afternoon. The sun was still creeping through half-opened blinds leaving you with only striped warmth. I wondered if you unconsciously noticed the dust particles mischievously dancing around your nose and prickly chin. Oh what fun they must've been having as your nose breathed them in and shot them back out to dance again in the sun's fading rays. You turned then, using your left hand to swish at your nose moving the dancers to your sun striped back joyfully rolling to your heavy, slow breaths. I watched the dancers that afternoon frantically playing around your beautiful sleep. You were the stage for an exquisite performance.
Mike Kemp She was ~~~~~~~ I can remember her now She claimed her name Was Rosie A weird Smacked out Burnt up Streetwalker Who lurked like a Constant shadow And a too sad reminder Of the worlds sickness The fag perpetually Hanging from her lips Her semen stained Charity shop dress Hugging her frail Bones and Old flesh close As she ranted and yelled At the passing suburbanite Cars too afraid Or too cheap to stop for her Her beating on the Door of one of my neighbours Bashing and blasting The door from its frame Desperate Afraid It turns out She hadn’t paid her Dues and the local dealers Came for her with their Guns and their Knives and their Snarls of rage She woke me up With her banging and yelling I cursed her And never saw her On her familiar street corner Again
Mike Kemp urban romeo ~~~~~~~~~~~ looking back at the streets I once knew the slivering concrete arms of a past dead lover I miss it in my own mad way I miss the constant threat of death or rape or worse the living death the wild dogs too tired and hot to bark or fight or move even when the fleas bit deep the stars were brighter the whores all knew me by name and the world left me alone to my drink and my silence and my desperation I’ll never forget it as the place I put the pen down only tired and too exhausted to fight I picked it up trying to find my voice again trying to get back to the arms of the dead lover
Mike Kemp Days of wine and sorrow ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looking back through the years at what I was then and what I am now I am still amazed I’m around at all what with the complete emptiness of it the loneliness despair and no nothing knowledge I had in abundance now all I have is my wine my memories and my sorrow but sometimes like now it's enough
Mike Kemp moon, pain and pool of blood ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ the streets are paved with pain and grey drizzle and the neon flickers and glares the moon gazes down silent hulk and cars drip through the lights the drink and the women never really help that much as the cats mewl and fight and the young men beat the old men and the concrete embraces the pools of blood and I watch like I always watch and try to tell the truth but the moon keeps on staring and the streets stay paved with grey blood and pain so I drink and look for help that never comes and never will
Gabriel Serrano Magic and Loss ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have held the sun in my hands, My hands were burned from the heat, I have seen the moon in my eyes, My eyes were lit bright from the cool, I have walked the hard roads with my feet, My feet were sore from the ground, I have talked the soft lies with my mouth, My mouth were mute from the sound, I have cried the painful loss with my tears, My tears were soaked from the suspense, I have laughed the wonderful magic with my smiles, My smiles were wrinkled from the experience.
Gabriel Serrano The Bullet Man ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Have you seen the bullet man? The one who breaks your eyes into tears? The one who makes your brave soldiers into cowardly traitors? The one who takes your strong arm with weak fingers? Have you not seen the bullet man? Have you heard the bullet man? The one who shoots your guns to lovers? The one who stabs your knives to friends? The one who hits your bats to family? Have you not heard the bullet man? Have you touched the bullet man? The one who tries your patience into oblivion? The one who lies your trust into severance? The one who flies your beliefs into frauds? Have you not touched the bullet man? Have you felt the bullet man? The one who denies your soul into dust? The one who destroys your mind into combust? The one who employs your body into lust? Have you not felt the bullet man? Because he looks so much like you and me.
Gabriel Serrano Writer's Block ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Can you think? Can you feel? Can you smell? Can you touch? Can you believe? Is this all there is to death? Will you think? Will you feel? Will you smell? Will you touch? Will you believe? Is this all there is to life? Love. Hate. Peace. Violence.
Annie Lehberg When A Woman Loves ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Look into the eyes of a man in love and you will find the soul of the woman that loves him Place your hand in the palm of his and you will fell the pulse of her open heart Lay your head upon his chest and in hearing the beating of his heart discover the seductiveness of her passion's sighs 11-25-00
Annie Lehberg The Voice Of My Spirit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To the farthest depths of my lonely heart I feel your soft touch in the caress of autumn's gentle breeze closing my eyes, I am taken to flight, where alight upon a cloud, I am set adrift to the wind's embrace floating about in the swirls of nature's breath, I am suddenly undiminished, as my spirit speaks to my heart in the language of self love, and I know I am no longer alone 9-23-00
Annie Lehberg A deep-rooted yearning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inside of me, I embrace the fulfillment of the knowledge that I have penetrated your heart A heart so warm and kind, yet frightened by the sound of its own desire beating like a drum Shamelessly you have discarded the love offered to you by the hearts of other's also frightened, but willing to answer the call of a deep-rooted yearning As I have treasured this satisfaction within me, I still harbor a longing for the contentment of knowing the spiritual wonder of making love to you As I imagine you having the awareness of how to kiss me, where to touch me, drawing out a sigh, I become someone I didn't = know existed The two of us gripping each other in an exquisite moment of ecstasy, much like an out of body experience, exhausted, all I can do, is ~~sigh~~ 4-5-00
Klaus J. Gerken
3 "Penny Pounds"***
(from Voiciferations 1970)
A LumiŠre
~~~~~~~~~
Deep immersed, to dedicate
a certain group of images
believe to be but words
enclamoured to produce
upon a certain size of page
the total sins of humankind,
HE,
finding that it's quite impossible
to dedicate
to each and every man, woman,
child
of the entire world
by name, such a work,
sends out regards to
only one;
Himself:
sd/ "for being borne
to light again..."
For _____________.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yr/ songs
Cantos Diplomatis
brought from foreign soil
have actually superceded (through
translation)
present standards of Politics.
That is:
they have words: a few. They
have order: not much.
And as to a meaning: they have none.
Appointment
~~~~~~~~~~~
The girl at the bus-stop
naturally awaits the arrival
of a bus.
In this case
she has waited for more
than thirty six minutes
(I counted them.)
She
will not leave
the biting cold
for warmer places.
It must be a very
important
appointment
she wants to keep.
*** Dubbed so my Clayton Eshleman 1970
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. REMEMBERY: EPYLLION IN ANAMNESIS (1996), poems by Michael R. Collings . DYNASTY (1968), Poems by Klaus J. Gerken . THE WIZARD EXPLODED SONGBOOK (1969), songs by KJ Gerken . STREETS (1971), Poems by Klaus J. Gerken . BLOODLETTING (1972) poems by Klaus J. Gerken . ACTS (1972) a novel by Klaus J. Gerken . RITES (1974), a novel by Klaus J. Gerken . FULL BLACK Q (1975), a poem by KJ Gerken . ONE NEW FLASH OF LIGHT (1976), a play by KJ Gerken . THE BLACKED-OUT MIRROR (1979), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . JOURNEY (1981), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . LADIES (1983), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . FRAGMENTS OF A BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1984), poems by KJ Gerken . THE BREAKING OF DESIRE (1986), poems by KJ Gerken . FURTHER SONGS (1986), songs by KJ Gerken . POEMS OF DESTRUCTION (1988), poems by KJ Gerken . THE AFFLICTED (1991), a poem by KJ Gerken . DIAMOND DOGS (1992), poems by KJ Gerken . KILLING FIELD (1992), a poem by KJ Gerken . BARDO (1994-1995), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . FURTHER EVIDENCES (1995-1996) Poems by Klaus J. Gerken . CALIBAN'S ESCAPE AND OTHER POEMS (1996), by Klaus J. Gerken . CALIBAN'S DREAM (1996-1997), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . THE LAST OLD MAN (1997), a novel by Klaus J. Gerken . WILL I EVER REMEMBER YOU? (1997), poems by Klaus J. Gerken . SONGS FOR THE LEGION (1998), song-poems by Klaus J. Gerken . REALITY OR DREAM? (1998), poems by Klaus J. Gerken . APRIL VIOLATIONS (1998), poems by Klaus J. Gerken . THE VOICE OF HUNGER (1998), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . SHACKLED TO THE STONE, by Albrecht Haushofer - translated by JR Wesdorp . MZ-DMZ (1988), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . DARK SIDE (1991), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . STEEL REIGNS & STILL RAINS (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . BLATANT VANITY (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . ALIENATION OF AFFECTION (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . LIVING LIFE AT FACE VALUE (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . HATRED BLURRED (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . CHOKING ON THE ASHES OF A RUNAWAY (1993), ramblings by I. Koshevoy . BORROWED FEELINGS BUYING TIME (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . HARD ACT TO SWALLOW (1994), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . HALL OF MIRRORS (1994), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . ARTIFICIAL BUOYANCY (1994), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . THE POETRY OF PEDRO SENA, poems by Pedro Sena . THE FILM REVIEWS, by Pedro Sena . THE SHORT STORIES, by Pedro Sena . INCANTATIONS, by Pedro Sena . POEMS (1970), poems by Franz Zorn All books are on disk and cost $10.00 each. Checks should be made out to the respective authors and orders will be forwarded by Ygdrasil Press. YGDRASIL MAGAZINE may also be ordered from the same address: $5.00 an issue to cover disk and mailing costs, also specify computer type (IBM or Mac), as well as disk size and density. Allow 2 weeks for delivery. Note that YGDRASIL MAGAZINE is free when downloaded from Ygdrasil's World-Wide Web site at http://users.synapse.net/~kgerken.
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