12 Meditations 1967 – 1976

respectfully dedicated to Philip Whalen

1

a problem solved

frequently i have noticed that people are frowning for no apparent
reason, either while shopping or just walking. it matters not what
age—young, middle age, or elderly—most of us are sometimes
guilty of this . we work hard to prevent lines & wrinkles by
applying all sorts of creams & lotions & then undo this treatment
with a furrowed brow! we have to 'think beauty' inside as well as
outside—or else spray entire head with one coat of white spray
paint, let dry twenty minutes, then brush on one coat of white glue .
let dry thoroughly. head is now ready for details: draw in mouth
with pen & ink, then color in with brush-on acrylic. mouth should
be about one inch above chin. for nice round eyes, i suggest tracing
around a nickel. let artwork dry thoroughly, then spray entire head
with glaze. result is permanently frownproof head, suitable for day
or evening.

your beauty adviser.

2

message

hello!
i am one of your molecules!

i started out from crab nebula,
but i move about.
i've moved about for millions of years.

i entered your body, perhaps as a factor
in some edible vegetable,
or else i passed into your lungs
as part of the air.

now what intrigues me is this:
at what point, as i entered
the mouth, or was absorbed by
the skin, was i part of the body?

& at what exact moment
(later on) do i cease to be
part of the body
i.e., you?

let me know what you think.

yours,

3

isle of wight vision, 1967

on my way to the high street
i pass many doorways & courtyards

in the corner of my eye
a gigantic scots terrier!

intuitively speaking
his name is wudswooth or hoobsbum

"mcbuth: c'est un nom écossais?"

4

the beetle wakes up.

it is unconscious.

that is all right.

5

from the log, 1970

"the sluggishness of two-way radio
communication over interstellar distances
tends to make such contact unsatisfactory
for beings with lifetimes measured in decades
but for very long-lived beings
such communication would be much more interesting"
                                                               —sagan/ shklovsky

the core extends all the way out to the surface
the surface extends all the way in to the core
the extent of the core is the extent of the surface
the extent of the surface is the extent of the core
the surface extends all the way out to the core
the core extends all the way in to the surface
the core surfaces and the surface submerges
in the core every moment of our all too brief lives

received october the twelfth
decoded october the fourteenth

origin: alpha centaurus

obviously poetry
of the mystic-elegiac kind.

purposeful matter hovers in the dark

6

in lawrence, kansas
the flustered
faculty member
temporarily in charge of
the visiting god
put his briefcase on top of the car
while unlocking the door.
as we drove off
the case exploded in the street
& we had to stop to retrieve
all that analytical work,
page by puddle-soaked page.

7

new orc

lackawanna,
a city
of erie county, new york
situated on lake erie
about five miles south of
the center of buffalo
(which see)

it is served by three railroads
& is an important
manufacturing center.
principal industries are
steel, abrasives, cement,
bridges, & ships.
it is,
actually,
hell.
as you proceed across
the bridge leading into it

the air changes
from air to finely atomized offal
the which the damned
have to breathe, all their terrestrial lives.

8

jet lag, or; poem beginning "i, thor"

for ted berrigan

i, thor
lob the great hammer
of my love

into all openings,
nooks & crannies
of the universe—

or, as blaise cendrars found it,
the 'english' phrase
"me, too, boogiel"

common usage
in 1920s
french pacific

9

la cucaracha

the new members of the orchestra have arrived onstage
to replace the old ones flung into the pit
after a brief tune-up the concert will resume

10

wherever there is a hole
in a metaphysical fabric
you are sure to find a
hundred metaphysicians
attempting to fill it

but above our residence
on earth the sky
is clear, an
uncommitted
avantgardist

11

"katie
who wasn't then
yet
visible"
—gordon brotherston

visible & invisible persons
distributed in space
according to principles unknown
to either group
guessing, nevertheless,
at each other's existence

12

dragon mantra

for jerome rothenberg

ooh dragons
aahh dragons
here they come
in their lurching wagons
hee hee ho ho hee hee ho ho hee hee ho ho
here they come in their lurching wagons