Sunday 20 June 2010

Fragmentary



Place no reliance
on the speck of surface
where dust likes to crawl.
Remember when variations began
before reasons turned fallacious,
and our appettites grew enormous
when we queued up all morning
for our places in the sun.
Datura metel
Scopalamine Soda,
unusual dilations
scatter new fabrics of meaning,
that are often oblivious to danger.
Remember nothing is owed,
so join the circle of unusual ideation,
sometimes there are landing spaces
where no one dares to dream
and we all stand convicted.
Once we went to far,
now we return
beneath the noon- high sun
the future is lazy
tomorrow  already yawning.
In the distance a rainbow
artistically rearranged.
We get lost and await new recruits
announce our love,
abandon  commitments.
This is all we can do
forever, forever
on and on.
Much rememberence
dreaming and turning
by a  broken ticket machine
a reminder of better times.
Out of our depths
with passionate ideas,
slowly releasing
as the stars and moons collided
running wild with imagination
becoming inspired ,
and in the morning
answering the pulse
of rythmic emotion
incendinary fragments
proof of  reality.

MICHAEL MCCLURE - Moire, for Francis Crick



Michael McClure was born on October 20, 1932, in Marysville, Kansas. He moved to San Francisco in 1954 to study art. He found fame as one of the five poets including Allen Ginsberg, who read at the famous San Francisco Six Gallery reading in 1955. He subsequently became a key member of the Beats, immortalsed as " Pat McClear " in Jack Kerouac's " Big Sur " 1961. He formed a close alliance with Gary Snyder, another shaman poet, who talks through experience. Michael McClure was also a proud experimenter of psychedelics as a means of psychic liberation.
He later wrote a full account of the 1955 "Six Poets at the Six Gallery" reading in his book "Scratching the Beat Surface 1982. A prolific author of countles inspired tomes, a role model for Jim Morrison the Lizard King.
McClure still continues to sparkle his words drifting ito distant time and back again, collaborating with the musician Terry Riley, creating spotnaneous music and voice, he also collaborates regularly with his long term friend, the Doors keyboardist Ray Manzanarek. He has appeared in many cult movies , and it was in Scorcese's " Last Waltz " that I first encountered him reading a poem by Chaucher lilted rolled.
Toes tapping gently into the water, I find a lot of Zen in his breaths, with the sparkle of illumination dancing in Surrealist gardens.
An hour-long documentary film called " ABSTRACT ALCHEMIST OF FLESH " by Colin Still has just been released. An hour long fil exploring the range and diversity of his work. The film icludes a sequence in which the young poet declaims his poems in "beast language" to the lions in San Francisco Zoo.
Genius, well thats my opinion.
The following poem is inspired by the Nobel biologist Francis Crick. Nice !!!!!!!




Moire

for Francis Crick

1.THE CHANTING IN TIBET HAS NOT CEASED -
IT IS AS IMMORTAL AS MEAT.
2.HORNS, CYMBALS, AND LIGHNING BOLTS
OVER GLACIERS.
3.BEARDED SEA OTTERS CRACKING MUSSELS
ON STONES ON THEI STOMACHS.
4.COYOTES LAUGH AND PRANCE ON POINT
REYES.
5. REVIVE THE PLEISTTOCENE.
6.PLEISTOCENE IS NOT GLACIO-THERMAL-
IT IS MEAT-MAMMALIAN.
7.CRACKS IN THE SIDEWALK REFLECT THE
DISPERSION OF CLOUDS AND AURAS OF
COLOR.
8.REALTY IS A POINT. A PLATEAU, A MYSTERY.
9.IT MAY BE PENETRATED.
10.WILDFLOWERS; MAN ROOT, SEPTEMBER
BLACKBERRIES, MONKEYFLOWERS.
11.POEMS AND PERCEPTIONS PENETRATE THE
PLATEAU.
12.SUCCULENT GARDENS HANG ON CLIFFS.
13.THE VELVET BUTTERFLY AND THE SMILING
WEASEL.
14.BENIGN VISAGES FLOATING IN AIR.
15.SPIRIT IS ACTION.
16.ACTION IS PROTEIN.
17.BONES OF THE SABER TUSK IN ASPHALT.
18.MOTILE POEMS LIKE FINGERS OR ROOT
TIPS.
19.AMINO TRIGGERS IN SPACE.
20.WE ARE ACTIVITY.
21'BELOW US IS STEADY AND SOLID.
22.SOON ENOUGH.
23.PERHAPS WE RETURN TO A POOL- STEADY
AND SOLID.
24.NO MATTER- ANTI-MATTER.
25.WE HAVE THE JOY OF HERETICS.
26.
WE DID NOT CHOOSE IT - WE ARE.
27.PERFECT.
28.PERFECT PLATEAU BECOMING ODORS AND
TOUCHES.
29.I DID NOT KNOW THIS IS NATURE.
30.THE BLANKET FLOWS OUT OF THE WINDOW
-ON IT ARE YELLOW BANDS WOVEN WITH
RED BISON.
31.SOLID BLACKNESS ABOVE AND BELOW.
32.MUSIC BETWEEN.
33.FORESTS OF MOSS IN THE COLD STREAM.
34.BULK OF A DEAD SEA LION- DARK EYES
OPEN.
35.THE DESERT IS ALIVE
36.THE FIR FEELS THE SOLSTICE.
37.SENSE HORIZONTALLY, ASPIRE VERTI-
CALLY - AGNOSIA.
38.KEATS, DIRAC, DIONYSIUS THE AREOPA-
GITE.
39.TRUMPETS, CYMBALS, WARM GRASS, ROAR
OF A MOTORCYCLE.
40.LEATHER, QUARTZ, AND CINNAMON.
41.DISSOLTION IS A PRIVILEGE.
42.HAIL PLANARIAN !
43.SWEET, WARN AND ODOUROS IN THE
AUTUMN SUN.
44.BLACKER THAN BLACK, BLUE-BLACK - A
MIRROR REFLECTING REDS.
45.SCREAMS AND FLAMES OVER THE HORIZON.
46.CREAK OF EUCALYPTUS BOUGHS.
47.THE PLATEAU IS A POINT, THE MASK OF A
DIMENSION.
48.THE MASK IS ENFORCED BY ENSOCIALIZA-
TION OF PERCEPTIONS.
49.SEPTEMBER BLACKBERRIES ARE FREE.
50.THERE ARE STILL BLOSSOMS.
51.CONDENSATION FALLS PATTERING ON
LEAVES.
52.MACHINE GUNS COMMUNICATE BULLETS.
53.BOMBS ARE SYMBOLS FORMEAT THOUGHTS.
54.FACES OF MALEOVLOENCE AND FOLLY
STARE FROM THE WALLS.
55.THE FLEECE MOVING IN THE BREEZE BY THE
FIRE IS LOVELY.
56.WE ARE OLD WOLVES, INDIANS, CREAT-
URES.
57.ETERNITY BECOMES BROWN-GOLD FOR AN
INSTANT.
58.TIME IS THE LONG WAY BACK.
59.IGNORANCE, LIKE INFORMATION, IS A
LEVER.
60.THE BODY'S ODORS- THE BERRY'S ODORS.
61.THE MASS OF INFORMATION WHITES OUT.
62.RAINBOW AGAINST WHITE- PROJECTED
ON BLACK.
63.THE SELVES FLYING THROUGH THE BODY
HAVE FACES.
64.THEY STREAM WITH TAILS OF COLORS.
65.SENATIN MAY PRECEDE INFORMATIOM.
66.WE DIVE BOTH DOWN AND OUTWARD.
67.SOLIDARITY AND VIBRATION.
68.UNEXPECTE PROFILES AND FACES.
69.THE BRAMBLE TANGLE IS A MOVING SCULP-
TURE.
70.DRAGONS OF SPACE AND MATTER.
71.FALSE PERCEPTIONS MIMIC THE REAL- A
COVER.
72.THE BODY MAY BE DIAGRAMMED WITH
COLORS AND ODORS.
73.THERE IS A FIRE AND TRAJECTORIES OF
ENERGIES.
74.BEYOND THE MASK OF YHE POINT ARE
TRILLIONIC INTERLOCKED CONSTLLA-
TIONS.
75.PLEASUES ARE NOT RELATIVE BUT
ACTUAL - BLACKBERRIES, SEA LIONS,
TENDRILS.
76.PERCEPPTIONS ARE HERETIC - THEY
NEGATE ABSCENCE.
77.ABSENCE IS LACK OF PERCEPTION.
78.THE MUSSEL SHELL CRACKS ON THE ROCK.
79.WAVES OF WATER AND PROTOPLASM.
80.COYOTE SHIT- THE TAJ MAHAL.
81.WINGED TIGERS ENCASED IN TRANS-
PARENT SILVER.
82.MY WHISKERS - THE WOLF'S BEARD.



FROM-
September Backberries - Michael McClure, 1974, New Directions

Thursday 17 June 2010

FREE BURMA


On the 19th June Aung San Suu Kyi Burma's democracy leader, will be spending her 65th birthday in detention and has now been detained for almost 15 years.
As of today she has been illegaly detained for a total of 14 years and 236 days. The people of Burma face daily harrasment and those that oppose the current dictatorship get regular beatings, and the youths of the nation face arbitrary arrest and false imprisonment.
Human rights violations are systematic. Their are over 2,200 political prisoners, and many laws that criminalize peacefull expression. Burma's dictator General Than Schee participates in a lavish lifestyle at the expediency to the Burmese population. The regime also holds a contentious relationship and approach to ethnic minorities.
Whoever reads this is lucky indeed, in Burma itself the Internet is severely restricted. The majority of the ordinary people of Burma still try to resist and oppose the regime,people are routinelly detained without charge or trial. Somethings gotta change.

Join the campaign to free Aung San Suu Kyi and the oppressed people of this country .

Particular campaigners for this cause are the

FREE BURMA CAMPAIGN

and of course

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL.


http//www.burmacampaign.org.uk

Sunday 13 June 2010

SABUROH KURODA - Afternoon 3



Countless things escape easily out of me,
As if a breeze blows through fingers.
There were some floatages,
Having settled on the sand
After drift.
I pick up a broken piece of pencil.
In the dry air, quietly,
My head burns, my hair burns.
Lao-tze!
What is more inflammable than head or hair?
As long as man does not move,
The horizon
Means to be blind.
Solitude, which reminds me of an old woman,
Eating a peanut, alone in the dead of night,
Runs at full speed on a white bicycle,
Scattering a handful of ashes.
A crab shows its face out of the pit.
A crab puts its face into the pit.

Wednesday 9 June 2010

IWAN LLWYD - Bardd, R.I.P ( 15/11/57 -28/5/10)


It was with sadness that last Friday in Hay on Wye, I heard of the death of renowned Welsh poet, Iwan Llwyd. He was found dead at a house in Bangor, Gwynedd.lived in Tal-y-bont, Bangor. He was a formidable presence on the Welsh language poetry scene and published many a acclaimed collections of poetry.
I first encountered him when he played bass guitar with the Welsh Blues singer and guitarist Steve Eaves, and have since then followed his career as a poet, I was particularly impressed by a programme he made for S.4.c called " eldorado" made in collaboration in 1999 with another Welsh poet named Twm Morys, in which the two of them travelled through various parts of South America. I also remember seein' him perform some of his poems with the fine anglo Welsh poet Nigel Jenkins.
Prior to this he won the National Eisteddfod at the Rhymney Valley Eisteddfod , South Wales for his collection Gwreichion ( Spark). He was a graduate of the University Of Wales where he studied Medieval Sudies.
His poetry was translated widely into Spanish,Czech, Italian and Bulgarian and subsequently into English. His presence will be missed. He leaves a wife and daughter. The people of Wales and consequently the World ( Y Byd ) have lost another great voice.

FAR ROCKAWAY

Dwi am fynd a thi  i Far Rockaway
Far Rockaway, mae enw'r lle
yn gitar yn fy mhen, yn gor
o rythmau haf a llanw'r mor:
yn sgwrs cariadon dros goffi cry
ar ol taith drwy'r nos mewn pick-up du,
yn oglau petrol ar ol glaw,
yn chwilio'r lleuad  yn llaw,
yn hela brogaod ar gefnffordd wleb,
yn wefr o fod yn nabod neb:

dwi am fynd a thi i Far Rockaway,
Far Rockaway
lle mae cwr y ne
yn golchi'i thraed ym mudreddi'r traeth,
ac yn ffeirio hwiangerddi ffraeth,
lle mae enfys y graffiti'n ffin
rhwng y waiiau noeth a'r haul mawr blin,
lle mae'r trac yn teithi'r llwybr cul
rhwng gwen nos Sadwrn a gwg y Sul,
a ninnau'n dau yn rhannu baich
ein cyfrinachau fraich ym mraich:

dwi fynd a thi i Far Rockaway,
Far Rockaway,
lle mae heddlu'r dre
yn sgwennu cerddi wrth ddisgwyl tren
ac yn sgwrsio efo'u gynnau'n glen,
lle mae'r beirdd ar eu hystolion tal
yn cynganneddu ar bedair wal,
yn yfed wisgi efo'r gwlith,
yn chwarae gwyddbwyll a'u llaw chwith,
mae cusan hir yn enw'r lle-
Far Rockaway, Far Rockaway.


I will take you to Far Rockaway,
Far Rockaway,
the name strums
a guitar in my head, sings a choir
of summer and sea-tide rhythyms:
talks of lovers over black coffe
on a night-ride ii a pick up truck,
smells of gasoline after rain,
hand in hand on the trial of the moon,
hunting bullfrogs on a wet lane,
the thrill of that half -remembered tune:

I will take you to Far Rockaway,
Far Rockaway,
where the heavens' hem
trails in the muddied seashore
and trades witty lullabies,
where the graffiti rainbow is a frontier
between the naked walls and the simmering sun,
where the track follows the narrow path
between Saturday's smiles and Sunday's scowl,
as we both share our secret burdens
arm in arm:
I will take you to Far Rockaway,
Far Rockaway,
where the city police
are sketching poems as they await the train,
and the poets on their high-rise ladders
are daubing cynghanned on four walls
drinking whiskey and dew,
playing left-handed chess;
the name is one long drawn out kiss--
Far Rockaway, Far Rockaway.

Translated from the Welsh by Iwan Llwyd.
_

GER PONT RICHMOND

Unwaith, lle'r oedd Walt Whitman
yn ganolfan rhy beryg i barcio
yn New Jersey,

clywais feddyd o fardd
yn disgrifio anadl ysgyfaint heintiendig
fel miliynau o ser un malu:

mae'n anodd cipio delwedd felly
o awyr lwyd sryd Richmond
ar bnawn Gwener Llwm,

ac awyrennau
yn dangos eu botwm bol
wrth lanio tua'r gogledd;

'does gen i ddim cwmpaned yma,
dim cynefin
dim ond rhest ar resi

o strydoedd swberbia
ac Audis a BMWs
yn gadwynau am y gorwel:

'doedd gan hyd yn oed
ddynes y siop bapur nwydd
ddim sgwrs dros ben ei phenawdau;

ac nid yw llygaid y merched
sy'n paldaru yn i Ristorante Murano
ddim yn dawnsio'r salsa

fel genod Rio a Beunos Aires:
mentraf i ganol y mwg felly
a thanio sigar.
-

NEAR RICHMOND BRIDGE
Once, where Walt Whitman
was a cente too dangerous to park
in New Jersey,

I heard a poet who had a way with healing
describe the breathing of diseased lungs
as a million stars being crushed:

it;s difficult to snatch such an image
from the grey air of a stree in Richmond
on a dull Friday afternoon,

with the planes
showing their shining bellies
as they land to the north;

I have no compass here,
no habitat
only rows and rows

of suburban homes,
ans Audis and BMWs
chaining the horizon:

even the woman who ran
the newspaper stand
had no converstion over her headlines;

and the eyes of the girls
chattering away in the Ristorante Murano
are not dancing the salsa

like the girls of Rio and Beunos Aires:
I'll venture back into the smoke then,
and light a cigar

Madrid 30/10/99


Translation : Iwan Llwyd
- -
BORE SADWRN
Mae cariad ifanc
fel crww cynta'.
yn chwerw fel arfer,
a'r blas yn para':

ond wedi i'r blynyddoedd
dro'r chwerw'n felys,
wedyn mae cariad
fel tanio matsys
-
SATURDAY MORNING

the young love
like first beer
bitter like usual
and the flavour continues

but the years have turned
bitter sweet
after love
like carbons after matches.

Apologies translation my own

-
DYLAN THOMAS
Mawrnad

(i DLIW)

Yn rhy gall i farw, yn eiddil a dall y daeth
i'r lon dywyll, ac ni allai droi adre'n wyw;
gwr dirgel a chlen, a'i falchder yn ddewrser caeth

ar ddydd ei gymundeb mawr. Boedd iddo fyw
eto'n brasgamu, o'r diwedd, ar allt y groes
a'i nefoedd yn ifanc, dan y glaswellt a'r glaw,

oedd yn llwch ac yn lleddf; yn llaid oer
cyffredinedd mawrolaeth, na foed iddo gloffi ei gam
na gorffwys un eiliad, cyn derbyn bendith y lloer;

oedd fy ngweddi yn yr ystafell ger ei wely dall,
yn y ty di-gymun, un funud cyn i bob un
bore a golau a nos gyrraed. Roedd afonydd y fall

yn llifo drwy gledr ei law, a gwelais lun
yn ei llygaid pwl oedd yn dangos gwaelod y mor.
Dos i gagnefedd rhyfedd y graig, meddwn i

wrth yr anadl oedd yn ei adael o.
-

DYLAN THOMAS

Elegy

Too proud to die, broken and blind he died
The darkest way, and did not turn away,
A cold, kind man brave in his burning pride

On that darkest day. Oh, forever may
He live lightly, at last, on the last, crossed
Hill, and there grow young, under the grass, in love,

Among the long flocks, and never lie lost
Or still all the days of his death, though above
All he longed all dark for his mother's breast

Which was rest and dust, and in the kind ground
The darkest justice of death, blind and unblessed.
Let him find no rest but be fathered and found.

I prayed in the crouching room, by his blind bed,
In the muted house, one minute before
Noon, and night, and light. The rivers of the dead.

Moved in the poor hand I held, and I saw
Through his faded eyes to the roots of the sea.
Go calm to your crucifixed hill, I told

The air that drew away from him.
-

Aplologies poems missing tollbachs

Further Reading :-

Dan Anasthetig/ Under Anaesthetic, 1987.
Dan Ddylanwed? Under the influence, 1997.
Hanner Cant, Gwasg Taf 2007.
Eldorado with Twm Morys, 1999

Sunday 6 June 2010

MASKS OF DIVISION.



Under a clear sky
sitting next to Daily Telegraph reader
wondering how they bark,
am adrift in foggy insecurity
too much calm
not enough pity.
20 dead in international waters
maybe more,
12 more near Whitehaven shore,
dreams in shatters
no calm,
dirty tears are descending
driven mad men
carrying an army of pain.
Exit wounds blew away their skulls,
deaths tonque slips quietly into murky water.
Where is the Peace
falling, falling, falling,
crackling with gunfire.
Flotillas of hope will again set sail
carried on new waves of optimism,
far adrift in the ocean.
Gotta keep moving on
clouds of unchartered breaths
navigating away
from the darkness.
Free ourselves
from all this division
before it's far too late,
lets start tomorrow with Palestine.



Written 4/6/10