Friday, April 22, 2011

National Poetry Month - Day 22: Clark Coolidge

"Manton/Olneyville"

The city lulls you
as you farm on by
occipital baiters hide there
blew the can mine out behind Manton
thrives on its sewerage, screwtape smilers
dodge punted, the graphite edge comes burying down
no longer landed but a little cotton box out of greyboard given
parted and only then the handshake baken
suspired violet streaks over Manton

Somewhere out there west where nobody indulges his knowledge
in a rust of gloomy O's riling and falling formative deadly
ugly as an angel's pin, a glancing skid off the finger traffic
down Barlow's Pew, soporific avenue cluster of tanks only to plead
brute arrival veiling down the bay doubling up the newel varves
trunk troubles, arc light saddle buries, worries and tongues
gait under the streetlamps arguable, there are no Boscomb Delves
so long dishing here

I wait up
for the raisins to light on my ham branch
backyard's a spinner and I'm the bubblemaker
long white gooseneck held out for your appletown fencing
malmatching the yard with its hole sizes
violins begin to come through, hide and then hide
the sack burned out of the hill into roses
bushel of quartzes

Car stops, they get out
who ever wanted to make a movie about missing assholes?
well, they got them here
they get back on
tracks, span of wreckage, zero exit
it got them there
Providence once gone about itself a monster appears

Is this pathetic emplacement just these window chairs?
could you continue till nothing satisfies?
fill your notebook with unknown bloods
be slanted almost gone, headache for
pill rolls from one end to the dumpling
girder bust oil barrage till the bay hangs
lovely but yet you must skid

Mind those pads in parlors
that tray
my dog old Lamp
cut out of Olneyville in the dark
end of the tracks they take
habits, cobble skills
brought back tuckings under
larval motor gains, follow the stains
then step down and pluck your fare
I'll eat after you, I'll make
a believer out of the Scarborough Dulls
--

The Act of Providence, Combo Books, 2010

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