literary tomes and other works

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 7:54 am

When you see the upper end of Deadman Creek (near the top of Sonora Pass) you realize that only a furbearing amphibian (a cross between Rob and Chickenfish) could survive in that water. It's swift, shallow, and freakin' COLD! That whole 'melted-snow' thingy...

Lark · Post by **Lark** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 8:35 am

Fur, scales, and feathers? Too much...

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 9:23 am

Throw a carapace on that, and you pretty much cover the whole spectrum of 'animal' (as opposed to vegetable) life on Earth.

The perfect creature!!!

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 9:30 am

are we still talking about chickenfish?

can we worship him at the meet and greet? maybe sacrifice those imprisoned sock puppets to him as we burn them?

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 3:33 pm

already bloodsoaked,
marked and frightened,
we shield our faces with rags,
with hair, with hands
lest the flashbulbs
imprint our tragedy
on yet another list,
lest our names be taken,
our eyes recorded
in the black books of 'aza.

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 11:12 am

our two monologues
spoken contrapuntally
converge nearly as conversation.
we each carry on,
pausing politely,
each aware of a peculiar dynamic
of listening but not.

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 3:35 pm

Each pause, the turn of a thought
Each thought, turned over, embraced
Distance, a touch not granted
Touch, a distance resolved

Every atom dancing with every other atom
Unmeasured and unbound

Quantum Friendship

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 4:27 pm

it's been one month now
since i glimpsed you last
across barbed wire,
past rifle muzzles.
lifetimes lived in between,
births and deaths in full circle
in the agonising march
of the calendar pages.
it's been one month to this day;
mark the anniversary
of our goodbye,
hastened by probing gazes,
a fleeting, stolen embrace
and a fruitless search
for your face
upon looking back.

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 6:54 am

It is always fire on steel,
dancing on the shining surface,
adamant elements unchanged deep within
a crystalline core. Swirling down
the razored blade, I am sliced
by her hard, cold, brilliant surface.

However the flame is cut, it never dies.
The fuel, the air, the heat,
all conspire against me,
and, though the blade goes away,
the fire continues, and burns,
giving no light, warming nothing,
only consuming.

I burn in my own Hell.

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 5:17 am

Sailor Song

Fluid matter, rich, layered on infinite axis
flat and wide as a sea, deeper than space and time,
denser than a black hole,
lighter than a teaspoon of thought,
sundered my moorings, pulling currents in ascent, descent,
North, South, around the points of the Universe,
carrying me to within sight of your shore.

I beheld dance and light, a flame so demanding
tall, fierce, pure and unforgiving,
I lost sight in an instant, reason at a moment.
I played Fool to Time's Curve, which, dropping deep and away,
arose as a wall of space between my prow,
and your harbor. I bent to strange oars
forgotten in the fashioning of my own hands,
and now, after long rowing in currents of time,
grow muscles in the night, bending towards hope,
only hope.

With each stroke, skill is layered on as mortar,
and each stone of light is carefully set in place
by a hand other than mine, though familiar as my own.
With each stroke the dance of Shiva turns and builds
a future garden with walks and benches, and a canopy
of living stars. Each step destroys the structure of Time
and rebuilds from the ruins New Time.

I bend this back to massive oars; it spreads and grows strong,
bearing a mountain of night, pierced by that which is beyond night,
bearing shining points to navigate by,
bearing history forgotten, but never gone,
bearing the buds of new wings.

What bold moth, beating his way in
through a hole in a forgotten screen,
can be more persistent, risking this gentle life,
to pass the tip of his wing, the whole of his being,
through the pillar of fire that is you?

In time, in time,
the Flame and the Moth
Become One
and the Sailor comes home
from The Sea.

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 5:18 am

Sailor Song

Fluid matter, rich, layered on infinite axis
flat and wide as a sea, deeper than space and time,
denser than a black hole,
lighter than a teaspoon of thought,
sundered my moorings, pulling currents in ascent, descent,
North, South, around the points of the Universe,
carrying me to within sight of your shore.

I beheld dance and light, a flame so demanding
tall, fierce, pure and unforgiving,
I lost sight in an instant, reason at a moment.
I played Fool to Time's Curve, which, dropping deep and away,
arose as a wall of space between my prow,
and your harbor. I bent to strange oars
forgotten in the fashioning of my own hands,
and now, after long rowing in currents of time,
grow muscles in the night, bending towards hope,
only hope.

With each stroke, skill is layered on as mortar,
and each stone of light is carefully set in place
by a hand other than mine, though familiar as my own.
With each stroke the dance of Shiva turns and builds
a future garden with walks and benches, and a canopy
of living stars. Each step destroys the structure of Time
and rebuilds from the ruins New Time.

I bend this back to massive oars; it spreads and grows strong,
bearing a mountain of night, pierced by that which is beyond night,
bearing shining points to navigate by,
bearing history forgotten, but never gone,
bearing the buds of new wings.

What bold moth, beating his way in
through a hole in a forgotten screen,
can be more persistent, risking this gentle life,
to pass the tip of his wing, the whole of his being,
through the pillar of fire that is you?

In time, in time,
the Flame and the Moth
Become One
and the Sailor comes home
from The Sea.

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 2:56 pm

May 11

One burning spring day
When the streets
And the hospital walls
Flow with blood,
Blood comingling with the cries,
True voice of pain and anger.
One searing Gazan dawn
When the stones
And the last tree
Tremble with percussive force,
Force to decimate the last hope,
Ferment the steel ramrod of resolve
Made of ordnance swallowed daily
Like vitamins.
One remaining spring day
When the last
And the first
Don't matter as there's nothing,
Nothing left to lose or gain
But still a will to live.

waltsnipe · Post by **waltsnipe** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 10:40 am

Faint spindrift from a florid spire;
Out on the fringe of common experience.
Big blow coming? Can't be sure......
we'll know when it's time.
No mistaking it then, as it will not be denied.
Light lessens--the sights unclear;
Many head back (many never came).
Why build these towers, colossal shapes,
cauldrons of fire? What drives them?
Of course, better asked:
"Why aren't you driven?"

phoenix13 · Post by **phoenix13** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 10:05 am

Broken phoenix,
Wings battered,
Bring those torn wings,
Wrapped them around your tired body.
Feel the fire that burns within.
Let the pain of spiteful boyfriends melt away.
The torment of work and toil for ungrateful being,
Let this fuel this transformation.
Be free through fire,
Be free through flame.
Rise again on burning wings.
Fly into the night anew.

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 8:59 am

dust plumes ring the city;
the centre burns,
casting up smudges
of wood smoke.
piece by piece the citizens flee,
carefully dismantling
a life's worth of dreams.
the landscape becomes
more bleak
than when it was empty,
and i, homesteader alone,
begin to smile grimly.
as they drain slowly away,
i, one of few yet free,
bid them farewell,
now wishing all humanity
would pack
and leave no trace.
____________________________________
the space between

each utterance hides double entendre,
cribbage transformed into the story of your bitterness
'this is getting eerie' you say of each foul hand
and i know you speak of losing opportunity
and losing me in the space of a few short days.

there have been no words of it since the morning
when your fingers tried to trace a path
they knew so well, through buckles and cloth
and i, unmoved, halted their advance
across the field of body and soul

the night before your voice broke through my drifting,
emboldened by drink, harsh, demanding.
disoriented, i had to ask again and again
and you, heart breaking, confirmed the knowledge
so well written in cold, reluctant kisses

we settle into these new patterns
finding rhythms of silence extending beyond quiet
mark the last days with a few smiles
which are no longer those of lovers
but in anothe life could be those of friends

the change so swift, so unexpected
it shocks us and finds in me a certain numbness
as i dive to find what passion once danced
and surface with a slowed heartbeat,
knowing i cannot return to ignorance

now cribbage, once precursor to impassioned embrace,
once expression of our joint venture in love,
becomes a deck of cards laid one by one
charting a course where neither wins in absolute
across the plateau of this table, the space between

________________________

shift
a swift turn of the controls,
so long in coming, long expected,
now a tug, now a pull,
now another view.

a sure change of perspective,
refocused on the horizon,
now a glimpse, now a gaze,
now a fixed road.

a brief shirk from the highway,
such a sweet reprieve,
now passed behind, now illusion,
now a memory

a deep clutch of fear
for a time denied, rejected,
now settles, now swells,
now again becomes solid

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 9:17 am

Jesus H. Christ, Little One!!! Those are perfect... your boat is sailing on a good tack, here. Run before the wind!!

Rian Jackson · Post by **Rian Jackson** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 9:36 am

stop it. that means a lot from you and now i'm all shy and shit.

samtzu · Post by **samtzu** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 9:59 am

Rian Jackson wrote:

stop it. that means a lot from you and now i'm all shy and shit.

Good! It means you really care about your work... Now, do some more!!

*sounds of whip cracking*

Sandwichman · Post by **Sandwichman** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 11:16 am

These mornings of fall approaching our souls and minds falling with the leaves. Spiraling to an unknown destination. Then to be carried on an unknown breeze and to be dropped into empty spaces waiting for a blanket. The sun grows shorter and days darker with encompassing night shrouding our minds in solitude. The breezes blow signifying the shifting of our thoughts drifting aimlessly towards some unknown. Our desolation, as our kindred souls hibernate in there warmth, grows with anticipation but for what. The rains come to cleanse, to free our minds of the dirty grasp of desperation. The air becomes cold and clear allowing are burrowed thoughts to surface with icy ferocity. Striking our inner selfs with piercing reality. Long have gone the days of sun and carefree abandon. We strive for the consistency but instead are faced with thoughts still touseled by the wind. This is my fall from the tree.

phoenix13 · Post by **phoenix13** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 1:51 pm

It's been a while since I've written here...

Unfortunately I have a lot of not so positive things happening in my life right now, but either later today or tomorrow I'll have new wrtings (for those who are interested).

Until then.

nipples · Post by **nipples** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 3:22 pm

Looking forward to knowing your thoughts (as always) phoenix13.

GuinivereElise · Post by **GuinivereElise** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 3:58 pm

I humly offer up the following, simply titled Pome.

It was written whilst I was still emerged in the white hot hell of small, rural Minnesota.... it's still rough, but the gyst is there...

all we like sheep
a nation of invertibrates
free-willed but destined to follow
our duly elected candidates
our children sit in front of a box
needing glasses
and prozac
it’s no wonder we turn out
high school grads that are
intelligent as rocks
they know nothing of the real world
the outside
the way things are
they only think of the big game
college girls
and their cars
good christian boys
pro-lifers all
blame our dear sister Eve for the fall
would die beofre they’d help pay for a choice
and don’t think twice about raising their voice
when their girlfriend kindly requests some protection
when she asks for some rubber before some affection
the only pleasure he thinks of is his
these boys have no idea what a clitoris is
or where
they think sex is just there for the taking
they take
and they take
and of course their girls would never be faking
because they’re the best
these boys
these homegrown males of our species
they pay the check and highly expect
some repayment
some retrobution
when they get home
soe we roll over
and let them play hide the bone
because when they’re gone
when they’re out with their friends
playing golf
watching football
having drinks at the bar
this is when we as women band together
near and far
and speak of things that we daren’t even think
in the presence of our boys
these are secrets
between girls
and slowly, ever slowly, our pleasure is unfurled
in stories of ourselves
in tales of each other
of our friend, our sisters
our mothers and their mothers
age-old tales with a newfound spin
as we close our eyes and we delve in
we find our g-spots and our clits
our cunts and our tits
with the help of a few professionals and their tools
machines that until a few years ago we fooled
everyone with
as ‘massagers’
(that detatchable showerhead he thought
was for that hair of hers)
we learn to please ourselves so we’re never reliant
on these boys that think short ass hair is defiant
these boys that were raised on hunting and baseball
movies and games that glorify war
boy who have no idea what a joystick is really used for
they’re content to sit back and watch the screen
as their libidos suffer with every scream
of battle that ushers out of the speakers
and their relations with the sex they consider the weaker
suffers and falters beyond all recognition
and all this because of that damned television!
so continue to watch
and fail to learn
we slide a little
with every turn
of the channel
as the digital shepherd with the 72” screen
leads us down a path we have known and have seen
in the movies we view
and the shows we click by
as we sit with remote in our hand
and we die.[/b]

cowboyangel · Post by **cowboyangel** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 4:03 pm

good one..here's one I wrote a few years ago...

I used to run the paths under the trees
and listen to the ocean echoing through them
now I run through what trees remain
and listen to the sounds that cars refrain
soon the sea of cars will battle the ocean
the ocean of oil will try to kill the sea
and angry oil tankers will burn at night
then they will rust and sink out of sight
Millarepa will go on listening to the holy sounds
heard in everyone's head
a better sound indeed instead

tonytohono · Post by **tonytohono** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 4:53 pm

I'll post something. Actually partially modified lyrics.

Inside

As the rains carried away our endeavor,
I look back, see the remnants scattered like reckless abandon
To hear the way you now tell it, “it was lost—it went missing.”
How can you say that when you gave up trying to brave the existence

Seven layers deep, the slivers are a constant reminder,
I lean back, pinch clothespins over my eyes
But the image of that expression always remains
Every minute I’m someone different, but what I feel refuses to change

When I look back, through the window, over the emptiness of distance
How could I have not known then what seems so obvious now
I see the pieces strewn everywhere except for their rightful places
And inside it goes deeper

I don’t understand why you had to throw it all away
But in the end that’s exactly what you did
And inside it only goes deeper, goes so much deeper than this

It never seemed real, as it melted, was it only some kind of hopeless illusion
Rushes down inside, deep down inside of you
Rushes like blood to your head,
When you’re starved for even a small taste of affection

And as I look at you it finally comes clearer
Clearly you were the first to understand me
But what I am now certain I will never understand
Is how something so soft could end up growing so hard

meandthemissus · Post by **meandthemissus** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 5:33 pm

Florid Freshman English....

Lay off the latinate words.. stick to words that were in the language prior to 1056

tonytohono · Post by **tonytohono** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 12:52 pm

meandthemissus wrote:Florid Freshman English....

Ouch.

cowboyangel · Post by **cowboyangel** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 5:18 pm

I just caught up with your story Tony...another good one.

tonytohono · Post by **tonytohono** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 7:05 am

Yeah thanks cowboy.

I'm working on something new right now. It's tough though, having to ascertain (opps I cannot use that word, it's latinate) um, having to determine (opps, can't use that one either), having to confirm, (opps can't use that one either), having to...

Oh fuck it. I guess I better just give up writing altogeder (altogether, still 300 hundred years too new, but who really gives a shit?)

=) xo to the critics (=

phoenix13 · Post by **phoenix13** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:34 am

This is more of a free form rant that I wrote. Hopefully it's as good as the poetry I have written before

You're the only to make me laugh.
You've been there even before I knew what I felt.
I feel like I have lost something truely precious.
I know that there are two mes,
That became obvious to me at Burning Man.
I know which one is me now.
The carefree happy Phoenix that was never at camp.
The Phoenix that you and Tony saw when I was working at Spike's.
The girl who would go out and meet new people.
How I wished you would have gone out with me.
As many people as I met, it never made me as happy as being with you.
I always wished you were there.
I never wanted to lash out at you for something that was not your fault.
I found myself on the playa.
But I have had problems with the devil on my shoulder.
I'm more sorry then words can say.
If you had talked to me sooner...
This would have happened sooner.
But I can't "what if" now.
Hindsight is 20/20.
And however this may sound,
It's what's in my heart.
You make me want to be the better me.
You make me appreciate things that I have never before.
This is all too late.
I know where things are.
I know where things stand.
I don't know how things will wind up.
I know how minorly I have touched upon this before.
But these are my htoughts.
This is how I feel.[/i]

polykarmatic · Post by **polykarmatic** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 3:21 pm

Shooting marbles at the moon ( an actuarial table and a jar of marbles)

One by one
With the passing moon
My jar empties...

Tiger eyes, days of our lives
Rainbow ribbon glass jewels
Shot into the night
Full moons biter sweet sight

My glass jar, was so full
One less marble with each pull
The sling shot, It's a wrist rocket
Padded forearm, I can really cock it

I took for granted my marbles and time
Knowing now
Neither was ever really mine

Like a grain of sand erases a dune
Mark my time with the phase of the moon

In my mind, the hour glass
Above ...below... future and past
A moment in the middle
Is where I'm cast

Part of me hates that hole in the sky
I cant say it, but you know why
Were born...we live, then we...

With my last shot I realized
There's moon light in all our eyes

I use to keep my jar out of sight
To visual the reminder, a futile fight
Funny now I've realized
I need that moon light in my eyes

I got my jar down from that shelf
What I was guarding was my self
Now each day I smile as I pass
That beautiful vessel of colored glass

I treasure each marble that's still mine
Savoring each and it's reflection of time

So Pull back hard, shoot for the stars
Live your life like its the bottom of the jar
Tell people you love them,
Tell them again and again

Step into the night
Shoot for the moon
Launch a marble out of sight

Its not just you
Shooting marbles at the sky
Not just you, with moon light in your eye

With each expression of love and care
Agates, Cateyes, Jaspers fall from the air
As you give love
Marbles like rain, fall from above

Your jar will never be empty
Your Soul will never die,
So pull back hard
Shoot for the sky..

literary tomes and other works

written while bored at work just now

Temple Prayer

I remember this

Re: I remember this

Note to A Lost Lover

Shooting marbles at the moon