NAPOWRIMO #30: THE ½ WEREWOLF

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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THE ½ WEREWOLF

Follow the moon. Follow the tides. But only half the time. Every other full moon. Sometimes a half moon here or there. But never every cycle of the moon. Usually eight weeks. Sometimes six weeks.

Bark at the moon. Bay at the night sky. Vomit because it takes so much energy. So much time. I really just want to take a nap.

Don’t rely on transformation. It’s usually never full. More likely its half. Or worse. A hairy patch on one’s back. Knuckles and earlobes that will need to be shaved later. Long unkempt nails that will need to be trimmed. A tooth or two protruding more than it should.

It really is rather pathetic. They call me the half-werewolf. But it’s more like the half-assed werewolf. I can’t even bother to burst through my clothing. I don’t wake up naked. I wake up fully clothed. Yeah, maybe there’s a button or two missing from my shirt. Or a zipper has skipped its teeth.

But otherwise, I’m warm and curled up in a fetal ball. In the bright night light of Luna herself. Clutching at my knees. Sucking my thumb. Dreaming of a mostly rare steak.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #29: LATE APRIL, 2015

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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LATE APRIL, 2015

there are black boys being
beaten in Baltimore

against a backdrop
of burning buildings

and what am I doing?

am I standing alongside them
as a brother in arms?

am I standing alongside them
as a brother in Christ?

am I walking out into
the street of my own town

and weeping for them?

what good is a voice
if it isn’t used?

what good is a voice
if it isn’t heard?

what would Queequeg say?

what would Jesus do?

Who-e debel you?

Get behind me Satan!

can two men hug
in the street

wrapped in a counterpane
of Instagram posts

black and white
against a backdrop of color

hugged by the mother
of one or the other

wrapped in her yellow
jacket rather

than being beaten by her
before someone

throws the final punch?

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #28: UNTITLED (SCENE)

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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I don't even know what I'm trying to say in this poem any longer, although I think I did at one time. I need to let it go and let it roost for a bit and see if it's plumage changes.

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All truth be told, I'm a bit worn out by all of this NaPoWriMo writing. I need some time to read and recharge. (I know that it's coming in a couple of days!)

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UNTITLED (SCENE)

There is a silence
that can only be soothed
by the song of small birds—

Oregon juncos
jump about through
the protective leaves of salal

and azalea as they
search for castaway seeds
from the cockatiel’s cage—

a long-lost cousin
who watches them from
the kitchen window

commenting upon
their foraging and play—
longing to do likewise

but in the safety and security
of his cage.

His song does not sooth.

He does not hop.

He shuffles over wire bars
and newsprint

squawking

his pleasure at

mess-making

and gaining the attention

of both outdoor birds

and his person.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #27: FRUITING BODIES

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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FRUITING BODIES

     fruiting bodies :: naked bodies :: all you need :: to know

spore :: some more :: before :: it becomes :: a chore

     glisten :: moisten :: move :: and mold

shift :: and grasp :: beauty :: to behold

     slick :: and sticky :: tendrils :: threads

keep it going :: refuse :: the dead

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

SPRING LEAVES

Spring foliage. Downtown Puyallup.

NAPOWRIMO #26: EVERY DAY (FREYA)

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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EVERY DAY (FREYA)

ignored shot across the bow
becomes a death-knell tow

run aground upon the shoals
stranded in the shallows

each day prior a preparation
each day a rehearsal

long-standing practiced ruin
long past reversal

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #25: KENOSIS

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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KENOSIS

emptying
emptying out
always emptying

what does this mean?

pointing away
pointing toward another
always pointing away

in humility pointing away

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #24: SECRET GIRLFRIEND

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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SECRET GIRLFRIEND

Dusk arrives— Now comes the End—
And yet a Promise made—
Today you’ll see me— Restored— Renewed—
Your Secret Girlfriend—

I’ll walk the distance of the Stars—
To stand at your Right hand—
I’ll hear your Song— Rejoice— Live Long—
Recited ‘pon my Heart—

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

THE MOURNING ATHENA

"The Mourning Athena" by Troy's Work Table. Carport chalking for Friday 20 March 2015.

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I've been poking around in The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel by Nikos Kazantzakis.  There, as in The Iliad and The Odyssey, both by Homer, the heroes mingle with the gods of Olympus. And Odysseus is tied to Athena.

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I'm fascinated by Athena's watchfulness over and help rendered to Odysseus. I'm fascinated by Athena's willingness to appear incarnated as beast or man or woman. I'm fascinated by her manipulation.

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Online, I found an image of Athena that I find particularly compelling—the relief of "The Mourning Athena" as found in the Athenian Acropolis.

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With her Corinthian helmet worn high on her head while she leans forward on her spear, I see the outline of an octopus. There she was. And then she found her way onto the carport concrete. There she is.

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View more pictures of "The Mourning Athena" HERE.

NAPOWRIMO #23: ATHENE

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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shore :: shallow waters :: darting form

Eight-Foot :: rising :: rising

rising :: floating near the surface :: lifting

lifting :: from sea toward sky :: erect

mantle cap :: stele arms :: statuesque

liquid :: solid :: biologic

Corinthian helmet :: chiton :: well-wielded spear

virgin :: warrior :: earned epithets and appelations

She of the Gleaming Eyes ::
     The Golden One ::
          At the Forefront of the Battle

piercing herself in hectocotylitic fashion ::
     the divine born of herself ::
          daughter and mother both

egg :: breath :: tender wave

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #22: OCTOPUS SONNET

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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OCTOPUS SONNET

The prophet casts her mantle from her hand
to drape the shoulders of her successor—
in flexible skin that shifts and covers well.

     one arm to carry a staff of sorrow
     two arms to twine in earnest prayer
     three arms to lift toward the singing stars
     four arms to reach the quoins of terra

     five arms to grasp the shells of mussels
     six arms to grab at God and wrestle
     seven arms to stir the briny seas
     eight arms to trail when time to flee

Now wanders alone this watery land—
abyssal desert scant of bidden succor—
a silent messenger wrapped in her own pall.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

TULIPS

Tulips. North Hill of Puyallup, Washington. Late morning.

NAPOWRIMO #21: MIDDEN

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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MIDDEN

i.

something has passed

a breath through pursed parched lips
a breath through rows of straining gills

gristle and bone through
a fist of water

to drop
at the entrance of a midden

stone rolled away
from what was never an empty tomb

ii.

a rift opened within me
     (enough to allow a beak)

     (that’s all it takes)
and in She swam

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #20: STONE AND SOD

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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STONE and SOD

Stone is born of sod
     when trowel and hand betroth
blessings on long marriage

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #19: WORN THING

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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WORN THING

The sin of the worn thing
     is borne in its flesh
where the paint is rubbed thin.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #18: FISH

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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FISH

I am the fish
and I eat the fish

I am red fish
and I am blue fish

I am dead fish
bones

and days later
I am new fish

swimming with
vigor

propelled
by a scarred
and torn

but no longer
crippled fin

for your plate
I am not

but for your
heart I am

in fact I am
who I am

which is
the fish I am

I am the fish
and I eat the fish

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #17: RUSTLE

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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RUSTLE

A brisk breeze rustles the leaves of the cottonwood trees at the river’s edge. I am reminded of A God Walking in the Cool of the Evening by Mário de Carvalho, not for the content but for the title and its Edenic reference.

The changing timbre and tone of my own being brings me different visions at different times. I chime and see.

I imagine the harp of Aeolus plucked ever so gently and with deliberate measure.

I imagine the breath of the Living God drifting over the waters of the river, as though at creation, the Holy Spirit as a word spoken.

Or I imagine a dark and brooding wind, slightly chilled in the shadows when it moves out of the warmth of the sunshine.

The contrary kiss of life when I look up at the spring sky.

The song of robin and thrush and finch.

The sky filled with the snow
of plum and cherry petals.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

FROST PARK: THE MOANING CREATURE

"The Moaning Creature" by Troy's Work Table. Frost Park Chalk Off 8:3. Friday 17 April 2015.

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The Moaning Creature has been haunting me for months. It appears in the novels of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy. In Annihilation (book 1), we hear it a lot, but don't really get to see it. In Acceptance (book 3), not only do we hear it, but the author gives us a very descriptive (and chilling) look at it.

This is what the Moaning Creature looks like when I hear it!

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I referenced three of my own earlier chalk pieces for additional inspiration. You'll likely notice similar elements in "Anton" (The Nightingale's Stone by David Mecklenburg); "Fruiting Bodies" (Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer); and "The Biologist" (Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer).

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Maybe now I can be free of the nightmare that this creature is for a while.

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You can view more pictures of "The Moaning Creature" HERE.

NAPOWRIMO #16: DEAF/D

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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Another poem that is more fragment than finished piece. It will get there.

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DEAF/D

Films of the dead projected onto
the cave wall screens of the afterlife—

the clattering of the celluloid strip
announcing its own death—

unclean and analog.

The click hiss and pop of the needle
playing out the synced soundtrack—

on the vinyl platter of a rich feast
for the deaf ears of a dead audiophile—

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #15: CHIMERAS

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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CHIMERAS

Chimeras of our current age, dreams of a dead longing.

Write these beasts upon your heart—
     man of hands and seven stars
     honeycombed woman of the desert and her wasps
     dog of eyes who sees and howls and weeps
before they devour its salted meat.

Crowns for one, crowns for all.

Soft barking and mewling of pups—
     litter of the young of three bodies
     writhing against one another in communion
     calling down fire from heaven
songs that will be sung into the ground.

Baskets after all is said and done, not crowns after all
containers that failed / fail / will fail.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #14: NOW YOU'RE TALKING BANANAS

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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NOW YOU'RE TALKING BANANAS

What does one banana
say to another?

We don’t know.
We cannot parse ethylene

although we translate
it into terms

of maturation and mission—
notions we do know.

-

The cedars of Lebanon
clap their hands

and we read it
as a hymn of praise

although they may be
waving us away

as we block their view
of the rising sun.

-

The whales can hear
the songs of the stars

the flowers listen
to the whispers

of the trees as they
proclaim new life

to one another
while our monkey minds

see naught
     hear nothing
speak into the void.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #13: WORKER

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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WORKER

O sweet bees
O lovers of stamina

worker to filament
parted legs to anther

dance for the flowers
dance for the others

yellows and fuschias
for the hived larvae

whites and infrareds
for queen mother

O split belly
O mad demonmind

flying into one’s self
twice thrice four

times over
over

[over]

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #12: SCURVY

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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SCURVY

blood moon
blood orange

scurvy not
teeth intact

praise the lord
tempered tongue

sail forth
sail back

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #11: FRAGMENTS

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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This "poem" was on its way to becoming a rough draft of another "black psalm," but it wouldn't coalesce. In other words, it's a piece for the work table. At some point, it will likely take its final form. For the time being, however, you get two-and-one-half strophes of the require five.

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FRAGMENTS of BLACK PSALM

These are your black ships, your raven-beaked boats. Planks of wood bent and fitted, coated in pitch and covered in tar. Burnt to the waterline by the enemy, the hulls only revealed once the tide withdraws from the shore.

These are your black tents. […]

[…]

The enemy arrives in the early dawn, attacking your flanks, biting at your heels. Swarming over your tents as though ants overrunning wasps.

[…]

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #10: DIRECTOR'S CUT

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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DIRECTOR’S CUT

O empty tomb
O Easter eggs

the hidden
in the manifest

(and vice versa)

made in the image
in the image of
the image of

the creators.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

SAN LIBRO/SAINT BOOK

Detail of "San Libro/Saint Book" by Troy's Work Table. Carport chalking for Friday 10 April 2015.

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Icons as inspiration. The first lines of great works of literature as inspiration.

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A book incarnate.

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You can view more pictures of "San Libro/Saint Book" HERE.

NAPOWRIMO #9: (D)EVOLVE

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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(D)EVOLVE

Never mind the frontal lobe
and the higher functions—
speech and self-control, abstract thought

let’s bypass even the reptilian brain

wonder at our slime mold selves

where one is all fever and drooling

billions of years slamming into the now
in the container of one speck of being

sending it lurching about
stumbling gelatinous
reaching out toward the sustaining stars—

the light, the life-giving light
the ever- present light.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

LINDEN

Linden fingers. Wright Park, Tacoma, Washington. Saturday 04 April 2015.

BIBLIOMANCY: BALLOONMAN

The "POETRY from Poetry Foundation" app is a wonderful bibliomancy tool of divination. Spin and discover.

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My most recent spin led me to "[in Just-]" by e. e. cummings.

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Therein, the balloonman moves from small and crippled to mysterious to monstrous.

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from

"little / lame balloonman"

to

"the queer / old balloonman"

to

"the / goat-footed / balloonman"

in a way

that only

e. e.

can

NAPOWRIMO #8: OTHER MOMENTS (LAZARUS)

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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OTHER MOMENTS (LAZARUS)

There is no other moment than this—

You are pronounced dead
but they are able to reduce your body temperature
by twenty degrees Celsius

drain your blood

fill your arteries and veins with brine
a salt water rinse.

You return to the sea from which you came.

They fill your lungs your throat
your mouth your nasal passages
with thick pink fluid.

You return to the womb from which you came.

Quick and complicated surgery
repairs the tissue damage

nanobots swim through an ocean
before it ebbs away and
the sanguine flow that you once knew

mostly restores you to a former moment
(there is no other moment than that)

and as your body is warmed once more

your heart begins to beat

a slow drumming
and then a quicker rhythm
and then a familiar friendly cadence.

You return to the life from which you came.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

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Inspired by the BBC "Future" article "The Ultimate Comeback: Bringing the Dead Back to Life" by David Robson.

EGG

Easter egg, dyed by The Child.

NAPOWRIMO #7: STOP THE SENTENCE

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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STOP THE SENTENCE

stop the
sentence
in the
center

do not
be
afraid
of

what is
the next
phrase?
the next
clause?

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

BLEEDING HEARTS

Bleeding hearts in the front yard. Morning. Tuesday 07 April 2015.

NAPOWRIMO #6: TOUCH

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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TOUCH

My touch is three hands thick—

the first for this world

the second for the kingdom of stars

the third to raise in glory

when the Mother Octopus

grabs me and lifts me up.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

IRON CIRCLES

Iron circles. Wright Park, Tacoma, Washington. Saturday 04 April 2015.

BIBLIOMANCY: WHITE LAMBS

“stars browsed for salt like white lambs on the foaming waves”

—line 3, book IV, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel by Nikos Kazantzakis

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Another opening. Another divination.

NAPOWRIMO #5: WELL-STRAINED

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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WELL-STRAINED

They promised us
a rich feast.

For throats that
can barely swallow—

well-strained wine
mature wine

well-strained soup
marrowed soup

food that is feast
not death.

This final meal
nourishes

such that it is
not a last supper.

Soon: a hand
that cannot raise

a spoon may
do so once more.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

WRIGHT PARK

Wright Park, Tacoma, Washington. Saturday 04 April 2015.

NAPOWRIMO #4: ONCE

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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ONCE

There is an angel at the head and an angel at the feet

or: rather:

there would be if there were a body—

the ways of being are manifold:

     before there was, was, is, to come, not yet, never to be.

Blessed is the head and blessed are the feet

or: rather:

watch as the body walks away

through the firm stone, over the waves

without causing a ripple, from the realm

of senses to the realm of nothing

and back once more

or: rather:

again.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

BOOKS

Book shelves, the lower floor of Sanford and Sons Antiques in downtown Tacoma.

NAPOWRIMO #3: PSALM

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

Today brings forth a new "black psalm."

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PSALM

This is your black day. You cry out to the heavens and await an echo, an answer, that never comes.

This is the black rock in your hand. A slightly soft rock you use to draw upon the harder, paler stone of the cave walls.

These are your dark shadows that dance upon the walls, dance over the lines you have drawn, paint the night in dappled flickering firelight.

This is your credo, your system of beliefs, scrawled upon tablets of stone.

Someone calls at the entrance to your cave, whispering, nearly without breathing—“Who goes there?” “Nobody,” you reply. “Nobody.”

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #2: SLOW STARS

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.
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SLOW STARS

Bodies melt
in shallow
waters washed
out skies.

The waters
grow dim
and skies
grow dim.

Stars flare
burn out
fade along
the coast.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

NAPOWRIMO #1: NATAL EVENT

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

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NATAL EVENT

The umbilical cord is cut
and I rise like a cork freed

in salt water

sow dischord when I arrive
slouching toward one holy

city or another.

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Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.