Friday, July 15, 2011

scratch

the dispossessed of Italy die young of heart disease
struggling rootless far from home
their hearts die quickly

the overt reasons are all over them
but the reality is the loneliness
of a drunken man in a foreign land
sitting in a doorway at midnight
finding reasons not to return

Emmer wheat, think of it

think of cultivars
of Americans experimenting upon Japan
Norin 10 shaking the world
with short shafts of wind
Rht1 and Rht2
imagine a verb called tillerage
do you mean like the age of a tiller?
what is a tiller?
someone who lays tills i think
think of the tilled bathrooms of Ur Nammu
King of Wheat

without atom bombs we might have no bread
(農林省?).

home is everything
someone says this
even imprisonment can be better
than floating in space

is there an arc in this?
an arc angel dusted in flour
big wings/flights/sails/blades/fletches/dreads/chops spinning
ripping out raptors on the tower?

23 degrees of arc or a little more
potassium/comfrey/nettles oh not again
the smell of a head in a cow's stomach

humankind cannot bear very much dislocation
everything is as it always is
until you scratch through the pelt

without Fat Man and Little Boy
these makers of shadow
these deep kneaders
no aerated happy dough
fragging the extended kitchen diner
from the velocette/[what}]
into dreams of (amniosis i really mean it)
imagine again such large bills hissing
unrestrained by the presence of a dog oh

oh formic acid, the ants attack by the river
the Irish Scouts share their curse-words
steamer, they say
this is all news to us
though we notice congruence
between Irish and Welsh
pigs, for example

the three living and the three dead

lo, I am undone
I know nothing of homes

the three and the unthree
and the fleet and the dead

you too, in there

maybe the closest I got

.



12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does some of this refer to a camping trip to Carrog?

Mrs.Trellis said...

I'll take that as a 'no' then.

Steve said...

You were right first time, but I only just picked up the comment. Hmm, not many people would know about that, would they... Wonder who you could be.

Anonymous said...

Can only be one of three...

Steve said...

Yes and two seem highly unlikely. Hello Mr Williams :0)

Anonymous said...

You guessed correctly. Was going to kid-on that it was an indignant R.Crimp, - stretching it a little maybe.
You well?

Steve said...

Haha I like the idea of an indignant R. Crimp. Yeah, not bad mate. Been quite a while! Last I heard you were raising chickens in Betws GG or something. Or it might be entirely grapevine bollox. Sounds like a noble pursuit to me anyway. I aspire to having chickens one day! Cluck...

Anonymous said...

Just thinking about "Been quite a while...", I reckon (and I might be horribly wrong) that it must be close to twenty years.
Twenty frickin years? Can that be right? Where did that go?
*Holds head in hands and cries like a girl*

Ahem, anyway, as ever The Grapevine tales contain a few grains of truth, but that was a while ago, - me and the chickens are finished. Finished. Forever.
(Overdoing it a bit.)

These days, spend most of my time following a toddler around (not *any* toddler, you understand), and trying not to let CBeebies wither my already shrivelled brain any further.
Happy days.

You?

Steve said...

Yeah, I am also following kids around, though neither of them are really toddlers any more. One 4 and one 7, both the unfair sex. Not quite sure how it happened (mechanics aside...), but it sure did! Love em both anyway, the little gits.

I reckon it's closer to 25 years. Lot of water under the bridge since then. Lot of beer too.

Nowt wrong with Cbeebies anyway. Wish mine were a little younger so I could still watch In The Night Garden. Well, guess I still could but I'd probably feel a bit stupid! Spongebob is cool, though. Prefer that to bloody Ben 10 anyway.

Anonymous said...

Never quite sure how to end these e-conversations.
Here goes.
Keep well, and I'll speak to you again in another 20-25.

Anonymous said...

Apologies for any nonsense written last night - was a bit t & e, pressed the Self Destruct button a bit early.x

Steve said...

Haha no worries. Been there and done that many times. We all need a bit of slack on the internet don't we. Okay catch you whenever and thanks for dropping by. Been a pleasure :0)