Black Spring Online

Issue 1                Featured Poet: Stephen Ellis                   December 2003      ©TheRepublicofCalifornia.com

 

 

 

About Current Issue: New writing from Stephen Ellis' Opulence; poems by kari edwards; poems by Jim McCrary; poems by Steve Tills; poems by Brent Bechtel; poems by Catherine Daly; poems by Chris Murray; poems by Layne Russell.
Upcoming Spring Issue: Poetry, Reviews, Essays, Writing for UPCOMING LAWRENCE Issue being accepted now.

Steve Tills



from Behave

Rant 78

Because
you refuse to remove
the foreskin
from the tip
of your enthusiasm

or so we were told
to infer
one criterion or
another for going on
and on

with a description
of the noise
vented
in this very room
revealing fewer drafts

and much is made
of the wind
which finally funnels
down to a hair
shy of soothing whispers

what was hot
what was not
too confused
one's got a
lot to fish for

hairpin turns
taken
aback out beneath
your screwed tight
cleats

whose turf
was artificial
which staircased forms
were distended
by bloodshot vision

the siren calls
each morning
upon his return
from antiquity
still ringing

between his hands
two ears
between his legs
crossed spirals
blue and true

until a swivel
returned
vision of hips
to shots
from warm stools

nothing sits well
on shattered glass
eyes
these days
dry as sand

proves forthright
an agenda
spun out the sides
of cotton mouths
and jawbreakers

 

 

Rant 150

Something
in the way
you'd move
those pawns
from around

the queen.
The bishops
are just so
black and white.
At night,

the castles
drop like skies;
they drop
from the sky
just like that.

The king
surrounded himself
until there wasn't
any room to live
in.

 

 

Rant 151

So anyway,
the king surrounded
himself
until
there was no room

to give in.
To live in.
Maybe.
It's true
the pawns

crowded around
the queen
and she found
sleep
difficult

at night.
The pawns
crowd around
the queen
and she can't breathe.

 

 

Rant 152

Something
in the way
you'll move
those pawns,
files of shame,

for the queen.
Remove her
like no other.
The pawns,
they protect

her from what;
they protect
you from lust.
All she couldn't
do was dance.

All you
wanna do
is remove
those lancets
from your guts.

 

 

           
     

 

 

 

 

 

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