NAPOWRIMO #8: WALKING COWICHE CANYON

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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WALKING COWICHE CANYON

I am young and brash
jumping from rock to rock

only slightly cautious
for the coils of rattlesnakes

imagining this landscape
a good place for temptations

in the wilderness
with its pancake stones

sheer canyon walls
and temperature extremes.

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Morning chill bleeds
into sun-baked afternoon

and graveled trail
shifts to less-traveled path

where soon and ahead
lies a missing footbridge

swept away by the appetite
of spring rains and swollen creek.

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Youthful adventure
becomes mature hiking

as bounce is replaced
by carefully scrutinized

footing and surety
of each and every step

the shadows of twigs
imagined as snakes

ready to strike
at a moment’s notice.

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #7: PETER AND THE SONS OF THUNDER GO ON TOUR

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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PETER AND THE SONS OF THUNDER GO ON TOUR

Paul and the Preachers are the opening act
and they are rock stars.

They know the crowd.

They feed the crowd.

Paul plays the role of frontman perfectly
even with the thorn in his side

especially because of his thorn.

It excites the crowd

makes him, and the other band members,
one of “them.”

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Peter grabs the microphone as James straps on his bass
John his guitar.

Andrew takes the helm of the drum kit.

“Good evening, Cappadocia!”

But they are old and fatigued.

They play the expected hits
the number one singles:

“Nets of Plenty I” about being
fishers of men

“We Were There (with the Master)”
and its call to follow

“Nets of Plenty II” and its vision
of clean and unclean animals.

“Eat this at my table,”
Peter the Rock wails.

But the crowd has been wowed
by the opening act

remembers

the confronting yet comforting
words of Paul and the Preachers

and begins to mutter amongst itself

boos and hisses become stones thrown
violence threatened

unless a day’s wages are refunded
or “A Miracle” is performed.

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #6:JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR #4

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 4

For a brief moment
Jesus the Christ is electromagnetic pulse

and the heat of seven thousand suns;

in the wake of his Word:

the Temple courtyard littered
with overturned tables and chairs

coins melted into pools of bronze and silver

the Big Board dimmed and dead

the NASDAQ ticker silenced;

the traders stand in the midst
of slips of blank paper and feathers

the Roman authorities keep their distance
as they quorum and calculate

“Herod will need to act
and if not the puppet king

then the prefect of the State”

with his phalanxes and standards
that Jesus pushes aside

as he walks back into the streets of Jerusalem.

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #5: JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 3

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 3

The Adversary takes Jesus to the top of a peak
and shows him the ships and collonades of the world.

All this is yours he whispers, while his craggy hand wipes across
this scene of marketplaces and docks and public squares.

Jesus closes his eyes and speaks refusal.

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The Advocate takes Jesus to the top of a peak
and shows him the Law and the Prophets.

This is the future she whispers, while Jesus stares into the faces
of three uncouth rough-and-tumble fishermen, his companions.

Jesus closes his eyes and speaks within.

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Jesus the Christ goes nuclear upon this peak:
time and space and matter collapsing into a fist-sized hole

in his chest where his human heart should be.

He becomes a flash of white light and heat
a wave of energy that strips flesh and bleaches bone

burns bark from the fragrant cedars of Lebanon

crushes stones into sand
and fuses sand into glass.

Cities and siege walls crumble
dry bones knit themselves together in wilderness places.

The stones of the Temple ignite and burn
while the waters of the seas evaporate.

Jesus opens his eyes and the light increases
although this is surely an impossibility.

Jesus turns his gaze heavenward
as a Voice speaks its Word upon him:
This is my beloved Son, the alpha
and the omega, listen to him.

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Peter and the Sons of Thunder stand upon the peak
and watch this vision unfold before them

with its tectonic fury and kinetic thrust.

As one wave after another of warm light courses around them and through them
the stink of their sin runs down their thighs and calves.

Hours and years and eons of emanation
are encapsulated in the mere seconds it takes Jesus to close his hand

and corral the particles, the waves, of light.

We will build altars to this moment squeaks Peter.

Jesus closes his eyes and speaks aloud
No, we will leave this mountain and moment.
We will speak of it, but not now, soon.
We will speak of it to remember me.

And Jesus begins to shuffle in the direction of nearby desert towns.

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

DEAD MAN, DEAD PORPOISE

"Back at the boat, I took a deep breath, took the dead man underneath the arms. Webster and Henry took his ankles. His clothes had dried and warmed a little, but under that warmth he was cold, stiff, smelly meat, like a dead porpoise on the tide line after a storm."
—page 105, Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen

EASTER CANDY & BEER

The first Monday "Beer Adventure" at 99 Bottles this evening was an Easter candy and beer pairing. It was delightful.

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Pairing #1

Ayinger Ur-Weisse Dunkelweisen & Peeps

This is the pairing I feared the most, but it worked remarkably well. The yeast, clove, wheat, bread, and banana flavors of the beer complimented the sugar and marshmallow of the Peeps. I'm not normally a big fan of Peeps, but could easily imagine myself eating them if I had a pint of dunkelweisen around.

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Pairing #2

Lindemans Framboise Lambic & Reese's Peanut Butter Bunnies

This seemed to be the most conventional flavor combination of the bunch. The Framboise Lambic is ruby red in color with a brilliant pink head. It smells of fresh raspberries. It tastes of fresh raspberries. When it meets the Peanut Butter Bunnies, it matches perfectly. Chocolate and raspberry predominate, with a hint of peanut butter. You've had high quality chocolates that taste like this combination. Very good.

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Pairing #3

Left Hand Milk Stout & Whoppers Eggs

I'm a fan of Left Hand's Milk Stout. It has an earthy nose. The flavors are of roasted malts, an almost burned wood bark, and carmelized sugar. The mouthfeel is smooth and milky, just like the center of the Whoppers. The ale and the candy clash when they first meet in the mouth, but then the flavors blend and become one with the other. The finish is spectacular. The "harsh" open, the blend, and the finish all heighten the experience of combining the stout with the malted milk eggs.

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Pairing #4

Firestone Walker 31 Pale California Pale Ale & Dove Milk Chocolate Eggs

This was my favorite of the bunch, although I find it difficult to pinpoint exactly why. The Firestone Pale Ale presents a brilliant orange-yellow body that is absolutely clear. The nose is orange. The primary flavors are sweet orange (with a hint of bitter peel) and flower petals. The orange of the ale works with the milk chocolate eggs similar to orange flavored chocolates. The only thing I could think of that would possibly make this better would be to substitute dark chocolate for the milk chocolate.

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This was definitely one of my favorite 99 Bottles tastings. Now its time to go pick up some Easter candy and a few bottles of beer at the store for additional experimentation.

NAPOWRIMO #4: DAWN

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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DAWN

John 9

From darkness to light
from blindness to sight
a little mud and spittle
retires the night.

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #3: JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 2

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 2

When Jesus the Christ goes nuclear on Mount Tabor
witnessed by his inner circle and the Jewish heavyweights

announced by a Voice from Heaven that is unnamed but known

where then does the light reside
and what organ does it fill?

When Jesus the Christ goes nuclear on Mount Hermon
as though a stellar army of thousands

announced by the Creator by whom he was begotten rather than made

where then does the light reside
and what orgone does it trill?

When Jesus the Christ goes nuclear on Mount Sinai
(the same peak where the face of Moses once reflected the image of the living God)

announced as Son by the present yet distant I Am Who I Am

where then does the light reside
and what organ does it fill?

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #2: JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 1

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 1

What is the half-life of Jesus the Christ?

Peter and the Sons of Thunder know
but they forgot to write it down

when they stood on the peak of the mountain.

Moses and Elijah know
it is the sum of their combined half-lives

as the bearers of the Law and of the Prophets.

Mary of Magdala and the other women know
it filled the empty tomb with its light and heat

making them slightly nauseated and weak in the knees.

The men on the road to Emmaus know
it is mysterious and molecular and manifest

even as it is like the quiet breath of the cosmos.

What is the half-life of Jesus the Christ

when a day is as a thousand years
and a millennium is as though a single day

and the measure is of alpha and omega?

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #1: ROOM

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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ROOM

This room is where I sit
and stare at the small screen

where it likewise stares back at me.

This room is where I sometimes stand
and stretch to rest my stare

and where the other stare naps.

This room is where I would also sleep
if there was a door to close

to hide away from these stares.

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table