Monday, April 27, 2015

tornado

illustrations by danny delacroix




the tornado had no conscience
ralph and vanessa sailed along under the darkening sky
they were very much alone on the highway
where would it all end?

they were extremely in love
youth would be served
nothing would ever separate them
after all they had been through together

buck brady had a job to do
he was charged with bringing ralph and vanessa back
dead or alive
every coyote was born with a tail

forever is a long time
you get what you pay for
especially on an empty highway
i dare you

just for a thousand thrills
a knight and his golden lady
don’t laugh, mister and mrs america
maybe you have a better idea?

you’ll never know if you don’y try
out on the horizon a figure approached
was it pete jones cone back?
ralph felt a strange foreboding


vanessa was strangely quiet for once
it wasn’t pete jones - it was the sorcerer
the tornado laughed
the road rolled away under the black sky



Friday, April 17, 2015

the unspeakable, part 1


illustrations by konrad kraus




and at the same time not show himself
it certainly was very good of you
she was only doing her duty

as though he were praying
his head fell on the table
as though he were praying

the car rolled along
more firm in my purpose than otherwise
since we are speaking of serious things

it certainly was very good of you
he does not see things the way we do
the car rolled along

since we are speaking of serious things
she felt real humiliation
it certainly was very good of you

because she felt real humiliation
at the same time not showing herself
the horror which she has discovered inside of him

she was only doing her duty
but the horror which she has discovered inside of him
at those moments i wept bitterly

because she was doing her duty
more firm in her purpose than otherwise
as she had been brought up to do

since we are speaking of serious things
she felt real humiliation
more firm in her purpose than otherwise



sources: frankenstein, by mary shelley; dracula, by bram stoker; three lives, by gertrude stein; the counterfeiters, by andre gide; native son, by richard wright; memoirs of a shy pornographer by kenneth patchen; finistere, by fritz peters; pictures from an institution, by randall jarrell; the kill-off, by jim thompson; last exit to brooklyn, by hubert selby; daughter of evil, by jerry weil; the dark side of love, by jerry weil


part 2



Tuesday, April 14, 2015

resurrection

illustrations by danny delacroix




he resurrection of the reporter
surprised the skeptics in scandinavia
torrents of tendentious abuse
undermined any understanding

of the various issues involved
when will we be free to wander
youthfully through the trees
noting the nothingness of nowhere

absolution is always aggressive
birds are always beautiful
and cobras convalesce
in the dusty dioramas of divulgence

everyone is guilty
fortunately for the jury
who gasp with genuine surprise
at the tears of the obsolete housewife

incandescence is always welcome
just when you least expect it
knowingness winks in a paper cup
lions prowl in the daylight of anathema

many words have been spoken
none more tender than by the commissioners
oligarchs must stand in the sun
and pray for the pardon of plunderers

they quickly return to their crossword puzzles
and their retrograde model airplanes
someday soon
tornados will grace the walls of their monasteries