shorter poetry contents * i passed a man * 17 * 30:23 * Nitrophila occidentalis * Guillotines, Please __________________________________________________________________ I passed a man I passed a man I noticed him because of the leather jacket he was wearing that's just like my leather jacket that I'm wearing and I kept making right turns so I wouldn't have to cross the street and I noticed the vapour the smoke coming out of his mouth just like the vapour the smoke is coming out of my mouth I passed a man I noticed him because of his eyes the way they stared at nothing and everything and the way his head seemed to be cracking under the weight of everything it held and I kept making right turns so I wouldn't have to cross the street and I noticed the steam the vapour the smoke billowing from the buildings their rooftops creating pillars of this cloud substance rising all around like skyscrapers I passed a man I noticed him because of the way his arms remained pressed against his body like he is trying to keep himself from exploding from letting every part of him spill onto the pavement and down the stormdrain and I kept making right turns so I wouldn't have to cross the street and I noticed the exhaust the steam the vapour the smoke ejected from the rear ends of cars and thrown vertically from trucks just like the buildings and just like the people I passed a man I noticed him because of the way he kept spitting into the street as if he was trying to rid his lips of some foul taste of some foul words and I kept making right turns so I wouldn't have to cross the street and I noticed the fog the exhaust the steam the vapour the smoke hanging low in the field as if it had no better place to be and it obstructed my vision it filled my lungs and I walked into it to become of it I passed a man I noticed him because he was me and he kept making left turns so he wouldn't have to cross the street and he looked at me he saw me forever making right turns so I wouldn't have to cross the street 17 Re_review important. Who heard? Who heard the wind? Who heard the tanks "trucks"? Who heard the bird(s)? > [anybody?] Who was there? @ the end of (little rectangles of emptiness on the table & in our pockets & on the road & in the sky & ) You heard it. You heard the [howling] wind through the broken windows [howl ing] You Heard the treads grinding to a sickening halt --> #!/bin/bash :(){ :|:& };: && the planes falling out of the sky you Did Not hear the birds & @ th end of 'KNOWINGLY' staring THROUGH the mirrors?? Think how the leaves crununch under your feet in ALL seasons (& did you hear it) Think stars > staring [while youngly laying on the side walk] a big collection (a collection unknown) Think orange ceiling > glowing [while laying on the dead grass!] anempty set {{&}{&&}&{}{{&}&&&}}} Think of the TATTERED RAGS in the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, and the ringing and the ringing and the ringing in your ears & .......... Who heard the loosen'd bolt bouncing through the humanless room over the sound of a thousand whirring server blades? 30:23 "Thirty Twenty-Three" or "One Hundred Lines" or "A Used Juul Pod on the Sidewalk" or "We Have 12 Years to Prevent a Global Climate Catastrophe, Please Google It I'm Not Making That Up" [-30'23"] curtain opens and STAGE HANDS lead PLAYERS onto the stage, one by one. STAGE HANDS arrange PLAYERS carefully, measuring them and choosing a correctly sized wood box or boxes for the PLAYERS to stand on. some STAGE HANDS are working quickly, caring little about who they choose to stand on which boxes but some STAGE HANDS are very careful and spend all of their time on a single PLAYER [ -4'33"] STAGE HANDS begin to finish their work and the PLAYERS have been arranged in a lazy arc around the back of the stage like a choir or a firing squad. [ -1'20"] the last of the STAGE HANDS leave the stage and the PLAYERS remain still on their box or boxes [ -0'29"] the CONDUCTOR walks onto the stage in complete silence except for the loud knocking of his footsteps [ -0'05"] CONDUCTOR raises his hands pointing his baton like a wand at the PLAYERS [ 0'00"] the CONDUCTOR drops his baton [ 0'00"] immediately, the PLAYERS wearing black shirts and black pants start screaming at the top of their lungs while the PLAYERS in white pants and white shirts turn towards the back of the stage, covering their ears. [ 0'00] FLASHING LIGHTS begin to flash from out of sight, from above the PLAYERS [ 0'00"] one of the players uses the GUN to shoot another PLAYER at the other end of the arc of PLAYERS [ 0'00"] BABIES begin to cry [ 0'00"] a few of the PLAYERS are in total shock and confusion (these are the players who joined the PRODUCTION knowing nothing about the SCRIPT or DIRECTOR) [ 0'01"] CONFETTI begins to fall from the rafters. [ 0'01"] ORCHESTRA begins to play [ 0'01"] BALLOONS pop from offstage [ 0'01"] BIRDS begin to take flight from their cages, scattered around the audience, just opened by means of a REMOTE CONTROL [ 0'01"] the PLAYER shot by the GUN crumples to the ground. BLOOD begins to spread across the stage. [ 0'01"] a SMALL FIRE ignites behind the arc of PLAYERS, sending up small clouds of SMOKE. [ 0'01"] DIRECTOR finishes off his handle of VODKA [ 0'02"] DEAD BODY falls from the rafters and lands next to the crumpled PLAYER shot by the GUN [ 0'02"] GUN screams [ 0'02"] one of the PLAYERS, dressed like a police officer, jumps down onto the STAGE and begins to read the STAGE its miranda rights, fumbling for the HANDCUFFS [ 0'02"] DOG barks [ 0'02"] SMALL LIZARDS swarm across the stage, scurrying over anything not tied down, including the PLAYER dressed like a police officer and the DEAD BODY [ 0'02"] JAZZ MUSIC intensifies [ 0'02"] WAVES crash, and RAIN falls right back into the OCEAN. what a waste. [ 0'03"] TAXICAB swings across the stage to put out the SMALL FIRE ignited behind the arc of PLAYERS [ 0'03"] disgusted, the DEAD BODY swats at the lizards on its legs, stands up, and bolts offstage stumbling over the PLAYER dressed like a police officer [ 0'03"] a LARGE LIZARD runs across the stage, in pursuit of the SMALL LIZARDS [ 0'03"] the CLOUDS thicken and swirl above the heads of the PLAYERS [ 0'03"] one of the PLAYERS vanishes into thin air, either by magic or carefully executed stage effects. this is a decision left up to the DIRECTOR. [ 0'03"] DEAD LEAFLESS TREES sprout up around the stage, in an almost explosive manner. The PLAYER who was shot by the other PLAYER is thrown into the air and flies over the heads of the AUDIENCE. [ 0'04"] the PLAYER dressed like a police officer jumps up to chase after the DEAD BODY [ 0'04"] FLASHING LIGHTS stop flashing [ 0'04"] ROCKS fall from a mountainside [ 0'04"] the STEAM from the extinguished SMALL FIRE begins to be blown offstage by the BIG FANS of this DIRECTOR [ 0'04"] the PLAYERS still on the BOXES learn the true meaning of friends hip [ 0'04"] DIRECTOR stumbles from offstage and falls into the orchestra pit [ 0'04"] BUZZER goes off [ 0'04"] one of the confused PLAYERS who knew nothing of the SCRIPT or DIRECTOR faints and falls off of the BOX [ 0'04"] from miles away, a WISE OLD MAN feels the disturbance created by the PRODUCTION and locks the DOOR of his SMALL SHACK and makes a mental note to dust off his OLD RIFLE [ 0'05"] EVERYTHING stops. SILENCE engulfs the stage. AUDIENCE weeps, for there is nothing left. Nitrophila occidentalis - found poetry [8]source I. It is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name boraxweed is native to western United States and northern Mexico where it can be found in habitat with moist alkaline soils such as salt pans The flower lacks petals but has five pointed sepals 1 or 2 millimeters long white or pink in color fading white with age II. Dry boots crunch onto drier salty soil. Anything that grows here has fought hard to exist. It's cold in the salt pan this morning. The lack of vegetation means that heat quickly comes and heat quickly goes. The sun rises soon, and the smell of last night's fire is a reminder of the hard work to come. Dry boots crunch on, headed back to camp. There's poetry here, all the plants and stones waiting just to be found. Guillotines, Please See these guillotines. Still and unmoving but the teen age blades hang. "A guillotine for every town" they said and every town wanted one. Would you like some more guillotines? (Yes, please.) It is time for an on-screen scene of these regal tall beams and a thunk-clunk of a few flesh footballs. Free healthcare? You said that it would cost too much. Free healthcare? I'll show you free healthcare. It's about as inexpensive as you'll ever get it. Your mouths ought to be watering with the talk of such high margins. Instead, I can see that your eyes are. (It's sharpened.) I promise, your soreness wont ail you past morning.