counting beads

counting some three thousand beads
bits of meat
little corny universes
the record reads stupidity and stubbornness
reiterated
and a rhythmic swell calls hope

7 or 8

seven or eight came muscling in
and so it´s over
smashed about, I´m now in the general
today I walked the corridor with my crutches
praise be to mamma god !
the body is picking its way carefully through the pain and the fractures
praise be to mamma !

308

they´re rolling by
2 by 2
4 x 4
and some centipedes
and some centurions
NOAH DOCKS IN NOVA IORQUE
but my head is creaking
and the creepy-crawlies rustling and bustling in my cranium
my few little explosions go
phut-phut-phut
at low levels of
meaning

ten

Rolling out the lines to the past ocean
Signal comes back
No heroic and no beautiful acts
Just mistakes and weakness
Dusted over with icing sugar
Roll in the cables boys
Let´s smoke a cigarette and gaze out onto the sea
And if you´ve been a bad boy
What then ?
And if you are a bad boy
What now ?

15

the world leaders exchange gifts but it´s 15 million and counting
two fledglings fell out of the nest today
we picked them up with packing paper and put them in the dustbin
who is within your moral universe ?
HOW CAN I SEE YOU ?
the terrorist tacks the banner to the wall,
leans an automatic weapon against the table
the other presses the record button and nods.
“ in the name of…”
sound to noun to bullet
brings
bullet to noun to sound

56

Thereafter everything is a gift
The present-present within the fade of the past
The bombs quietly ticking.
His walk is crisp
His well-measured blow shatters the stone
He may yet choose the dull intricacies of tradition
See him walking slowly behind the priest in the procession
He´ll be one of the bearers, carrying the 200 pound Nile carp
Hear the mumbling – it could be Spanish, could be Latin
Hear the flies rubbing their legs together
He will be standing awkwardly
Behind the sunglasses, his eyes glancing guiltily
The religious paw on his shoulder a sort of rough comfort
Which demonstrates quite mundanely that too many gifts can hurt you !

24/7

and international air travel
and the district hospital
the tubes, the warlords
and the folds and creases in the fabric of time
and permanenet video surveillance
four
three
two
one...