MONSTER TRUCKS of SUMMER

"Max," spray paint, art marker, and papercut cardboard on 4" x 6" cardboard. Monster Trucks of Summer, no. 3.

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In the past, I've participated in Poetry Postcard Fest during the summer. This year, I decided not to participate, but I'm still making art cards. I don't know why I decided to make monster "trucks" (whether trucks or cars), but here we are.

I don't know how many I'm making. I don't know who they are being sent to. I'm just creating at this point and having a blast.

MAIL ART CARDS

I've been making some art cards to mail out to people I know. No particular reason other than just to make art and get it into mailboxes. Various levels of shenanigans. For example...



"Young Abraham Lincoln keeps dreaming he is the President of the United States and this is bringing him many sleepless nights, so he decides to go out and split firewood at 4am in the morning. Within a week he is sleeping like a baby each night and has buff arms!"



On the obverse: "Rub here! Hip hop ya don't stop!"

On the reverse: "The Hip Hop Hypercube Study Card: When cramming for a test, rub the card while visualizing summative success! Known to work in at least three planes of multiverse existence!"

O CONSTANT WATCH

"O Constant Watch," Montana BLACK spray paint, acrylic paint, India ink, art marker, and pencil on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O CONSTANT WATCH

O Constant Watch, the all-seeing eye
of red-light cameras and solar-powered

speed information displays
ATM electronic beams

and grocery store self-checkout video.
Smile! Slow! Status quo!

A miniature drone peers
in your bedroom window

to catch glimpses of naked flesh
or one of your online passwords.

Rise up! Resist! Rebel!
“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O GREAT EXPECTATIONS

"O Great Expectations," Montana BLACK spray paint, art marker, and India ink on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O GREAT EXPECTATIONS

O Great Expectations of a constant homeland
clinging to cardinal points of the compass

as the magnetic pole shifts
as our makeshift tents collapse

under the weight of carbon fiber footprints
under the weight of wielded batons—

we found our refugee camp
and dreamed of what it could entail

learned the history of this new nation
so that we could join its ranks.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O HYAKU of ONE-HUNDRED EMPTY HANDS

"O Hyaku of One-Hundred Empty Hands," Montana BLACK spray paint, papercut YUPO Translucent watercolor paper, acrylic paint, India ink, and art marker on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O HYAKU of ONE-HUNDRED EMPTY HANDS

O Hyaku of One-Hundred Empty Hands
seeking out pinion points and destruction of wings

you single-handedly defeated a legion of angels
in their attempt to seize heaven’s throne

and in the ever-present heat wave
the drought of these days

the aroma of Himalayan blackberries
roasting on their thirsty vines

rises from your flesh as incense
as offering as libation as epitaph.

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All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O GRIEVOUS PICKLE PANTS

"O Grievous Pickle Pants," Montana BLACK spray paint, art marker, and acrylic paint on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O GRIEVOUS PICKLE PANTS

O Grievous Pickle Pants (yes, I named it)
of the Western Lands (yes, you claimed it)

you polished your jar to a crystal shine
as it glittered with the dense brine within.

What sweet dreams will we savor together?
What outposts will we flavor forever?

You have nine circles of afterlife to fill
with denizens collected from various planes

of existence, whether known or unknown,
imagined or realized, deflated or firm.

Know this: even if it never works out in the end
it doesn’t matter, sings the forgetfulness…

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O PILLAR of SMOKE by DAY

"O Pillar of Smoke by Day," Montana BLACK spray paint, art marker, and acrylic paint on 4" x 6" recycled postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O PILLAR of SMOKE by DAY

A thin layer of smudge films
all of the window glass in the house

when O Pillar of Smoke by Day appears.

The cloud comes from a cleansing fire
that devours all in its path—

thousand-year-old redwoods
as well as upstart saplings and underbrush

animal carcasses and fleeing bodies
residences and habitations

asphalt and vinyl siding and aluminum
tires and teddy bear and televisions—

an appetite of divine provenance.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O TWILIGHT

"O Twilight," Montana BLACK spray paint, papercut paint chip sample, acrylic paint, and art marker on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O TWILIGHT

wildfires beget wildflowers
sprouting out of charred death

while we are refracted in amber light
marbled in smoke beneath a red sun

speak to us O Twilight
of an earlier age—

a moist age, a green age, of foliage
and folly and an age of leisure

rather than of labor to live
and little time to love another

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O VULGAR LANGUAGE

"O Vulgar Language," Montana BLACK spray paint and iridescent calligraphy ink on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O VULGAR LANGUAGE

O Vulgar Language, cursed and uncouth
failure of diplomacy—

languid and loose become
tense and cutting—

clinging to our teeth
with moist and dank phrases—

return to your roots
branch out with new life

speak a grammar of hope
spore a new world.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O GRAPES of WRATH

"O Grapes of Wrath," Montana BLACK spray paint, papercut paint chip sample, and art marker on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O GRAPES of WRATH

O Grapes of Wrath
gift of land rescinded—

once granted to use
but never to own

stewardship entrusted
to you and I, one and all

abuse not allowed
prohibited—

except that we chose
bigger barns.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O MYTHIC MOTH

"O Mythic Moth," Montana BLACK spray paint, cardboard, and India ink on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O MYTHIC MOTH

O Mythic Moth, holy and firm
you burn incandescent

a beacon of the Ages
warm and welcoming

mystical and mysterious
a constellation transformed

from a cluster of stars
to an unclenched heart

from a glimpse of wings
to a flutter of fabric

ephemeral markings against the wall
outlined in the dust of your life.

(all apologies to Annie Dillard!)

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O DIMINISHING LIGHT

"O Diminishing Light," Montana BLACK spray paint, art marker, acrylic paint, and mica powder on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O DIMINISHING LIGHT

O Diminishing Light, as the sun sinks
below the horizon at the ocean’s edge—

sunset, dusk, twilights three—
civil, nautical, and astronomical—

before night arrives and only soft light
from glowing embers of the beach fire

and faint starlight remain—
earth and heaven attempting to keep

the darkness muted and muzzled
while a group of youth listen to electronic

Indi-pop and laugh and drink
in the sand near the scrub pine and dunes.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O THEOTOKOS

"O Theotokos," Montana BLACK spray paint, acrylic paint, art marker, and iridescent calligraphy ink on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O THEOTOKOS

O Theotokos, bearer of God
creation and cosmos clasped at your breast

robed in the blue sky—
cerulean by day and ultramarine by night

spangled with constellations of stars
celestial crown announcing

both your glory
and the burden you bear—

a Pietá of galactic proportions
and entropic stellar form.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O OBFUSCATION

"O Obfuscation," Montana BLACK spray paint, papercut painted cardboard, and art marker on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O OBFUSCATION

O Obfuscation, rice paper screen madness
with your shadow puppet pageantry
and Vaseline-smeared camera lens—

will you let us glimpse the paths
of our own meanderings
or would you rather we simply arrive

out of breath… flailing… floundering?

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O HEART of HEARTS

"O Heart of Hearts," art marker and India ink on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O HEART of HEARTS

O Heart of Hearts
blessed and blood crossed

veins and arteries
oxygenated and starved—

drop a phat beat
of drum-and-bass pleasure

pulsation     cessation
resuscitation

to keep the party going
to strive on.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O OXBOW

"O Oxbow," Montana BLACK spray paint and papercut paint chip sample on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O OXBOW

What a bend in the river
you are, O Oxbow—

a channel     a plan
reconfiguration

layer upon layer
accretion of soils and clay

ever shifting banks
and roiling rapids.

We think we can contain
you within dikes and chutes

knowing all too well
your yearn to curve.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

"O Enough Is Enough," India ink and iridescent calligraphy ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

We scream: O Enough Is Enough
referring to this particular Year of Our Lord

Anno Domini Twenty Twenty-One
annus horribilis and best forgotten—

with its parade of biblical plagues
and unwelcomed proportions—

drought and wildfire, hurricane and riot
insurrection and political maneuverings.

We are ready for a hard reboot
planted in the good soil of hope

seed and prayer that unfurl
into a new branch on the Tree of Life.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O MANNA from HEAVEN

"O Manna from Heaven," Montana BLACK spray paint, papercut paint chip sample, acrylic paint, and art marker on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O MANNA from HEAVEN

O Manna from Heaven, dew dropped
and stone backed in desert sunshine—

cakes provided for the prophets
nourishment for the birds of the fields.

No sparrow shall hunger
the ravens will serve without pause

those stranded in the wilderness
the haunted places of gloried days.

The refugee shall receive
and be lifted up as honored guest.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O WORD GOLEM

"O Word Golem," India ink and iridescent calligraphy ink on 4" x 6" recycled cardboard postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O WORD GOLEM

O Word Golem, built of ideogrammatic bricks
the masonry of a good story—

phrases, sentences, paragraphs
chapters, novellas, full-fledged tomes

and once fully maturated
a proper magnum opus—

roars against the illiteracy of the age
created to defend libraries and colleges

all while keeping the safe word
its Achilles heel

hidden deep within its own pages
so that it cannot be spoken or erased.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

O HARPY of HARPIES

"O Harpy of Harpies," Montana BLACK spray paint, art marker, and acrylic ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard.

One of the cards I sent out as part of my "O Eschaton" series of poems for the 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest.

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O HARPY of HARPIES

O Harpy of Harpies, cherubim and seraphim
Ezekiel’s wheel rolling across the heavens

thunderstruck, Valkyrie, Day of the Lord
your names and manner of appearance

mysterious, manifold, and varied
yet still you manage to arrive

accompanied by trumpet song
armed with a pitched fever

taloned, barbed, feather-winged
“Do not be afraid” a declaration

easy to ignore and overlook
as you begin your celestial hymn—

hallelujah and alleluia and aleluya
amen and amen and so shall it be.

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All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2021 Troy's Work Table Publishing.