shopped for Ted Berrigan’s Collected Poems at the bookstore but no luck
tried to read some koans in the bookstore – no patience for them
grubbed a large ball of honeysuckle vine out of the upper yard
opened Calligrammes to a random page and read Fusée
read some of Lisa Jarnot’s Ring of Fire – puzzling
wrote one 50-word stanza on indra’s net
took some pictures of shadows
listened to noisy noisy birds
told them to be quiet

“In the haven of surrender the veins ride, ”

veins sing, catgut
rides my forearm
symmetry surrenders
to most flawed awkward
screech haven

I’m tired of InstaMuse. The syntax is too always the same. Need to find another source of subjects.

the honesty of nouns
all other parts slippery

“in the kitchen of foreboding, the plates sweep”

this questing kitchen
floured with foreboding
eggshells broken and
hyacinths outraged
swept forth on Sunday
full of garlic and potatoes
plates wept heavy crumbs
dismayed by her departure

The mermaids have come to the desert
they are setting up a boudoir next to the camel
who lies at their feet of roses

A wall of alabaster is drawn over our heads
by four rainbow men
whose naked figures give off light
that slowly wriggles upon the sands

I am touched by the marvelous
as the mermaids’ nimble fingers
go through my hair
that has come down forever from my head
to cover my body
the savage fruit of lunacy

—from “Touch of the Marvelous”

Philip Lamantia: Last Interview