Douglas Messerli

Between

 

 

Words
subtract
communication
to present
explanation
as the reverse
order
of sense-
in essence
an articulation
of invention
loosed
from tongues
to answer
what questions
forgot.

Through
lips
slip
a savage
salve: slave
to the sway
of association's
tangent
applause.
Illusions
determine
the mean
of what's
meant,
sidelong
glance into
a head.

Stop.

Silence
looses
memory
and dims
the distance
between
the wood
and what could
be carved to
and the stone
of happen's
stance.


July 16, 1998, Los Angeles