Poems by G. E. Schwartz

WILL WE REMEMBER A WORLD INSIDE

… All outside of flesh is only our ambience to consciousness,
mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of space/time:
here a father, there a lover, here a stranger, there a friend
as the river of extent/of continuity, of eddies and cataracts
from its Big Bang beginning to its Apocalyptic end,
mountains, continents, oceans, and stars all in collision,
omitting, temporarily abiding together then gliding away
into disorder and dissolution for nothing, nothing will stay.
We are lights to ourselves alone, watts in our own dark,
and we guide ourselves deathward, our thoughts photons
shot light our understanding of every lepton and quark
accompanying us on our pour along in currents of chaos,
this light the magic of imagination, the fire of dreams,
our sentience itself an unquenchable metaphysical spark.


FREEDOM

My room is decluttered, and I can advance
Freed from death, now twisting its slow course
In time. Talk to me before time grips us. Death
Will be long and no one will come to free us. So
Evade the years with seething. Drift into Spring,
Or stay as stones at the breach of the valley.

OUR NOVEMBER

What a roaring season! Best to stay low
Along the ground, dig in, pile heaviness
Between us and its swells on our rubbing
Bones, listening to each crest of sound,
That something running this show, through
Stubble-tortured fields cut by another season.
Hold tight in the house, its shaking wood,
Its steel aperture. Go to the kitchen where
Oven warmth will take you in even in this
Darkness to wrap about you, climb through
Time as the black clot of this season beats
At all it can beat at with all its heavy cries.

Poems by Mark Young

ENTERPRISING BARGAINS

Some invasive herb has been spread-

ing, engulfing both a cardboard 

cutout of Danny DeVito & a box 

full of Legend of the Bulldog Tees. 

Does all poultry have to be this 

sophisticated? It's an exaggerated 

reaction to numerous satirical re-

views; but, severely hampered by 

logistical problems, the subject is far 

more complex than some nuanced 

black tie dinner. Satire remains a 

powerful tool; but by turning side-

ways, the resident hippopotamus

has totally exposed its hidden

logic. That's not such a bad payoff.

THE SCARRED CONTINUUM

What is happening to real music?
Is said that many-particle excited
states are not always a cause for
concern; & this view is compatible
with the assumption that the peculiar

motion of ionized baryons is known
to introduce passing feelings of de-
personalization. Splicing genres can’t
always be fruitful: there is no magic
technique to render things otherwise;

the presence of an observer always
means our perturbation will never
be perfectly spherical. How might
the brain approximate this inference?
Think of the Earth, & breathe deeply.


FROM 100 TITLES FROM TOM BECKETT

#95: Tattoos Submit Behind Closed Doors
Highway 101 stretches out in front
of us. What is done is done behind
closed doors in a studio with no tat-
too sign out on the street. It’s hard
to beat a panther tattoo or one of a
lion with no blue in the muzzle. My
time is taken up with innumerable
actions & things, but just a small
number of symbols can describe
them all. I was out way too late last
night getting tattoos. Now I'm just
going to bleach my teeth, lay out on
the couch with my boys, & decide
whether or not to invest in this busi-
ness that gives people the option to
preserve their late loved one's tattoo
as a piece of artwork. If you want to
have my name tattooed on any part of
your body, then fill in the form below
& submit it. We can't wait to see you.


A LINE FROM PIERRE DE FERMAT

You're turning right onto a dual
carriageway when you're con-
fronted by a stone tablet which
dates to around 1800BC & is

sparsely accompanied by an en-
raptured voice. The lane you were
going to move into is now likely
to be too narrow to contain the

opacity controls that ride the sides
of the car just above the rocket
launchers which they control. So,
press the firing key. The immediate

problem solved as the tablet shatters.
But a secondary problem & solution
not noticed in the debris, a shard that
reads “a3 + b3 = c3. Workings follow.”

Poem by Jimmy Crouse

AN INTENSITY OF 1.4

The letters have been syllabically counted so that dictation is controlled at an intensity of 1.4.


We tried to handle these improvements ourselves. We believed
that they were our responsibility. We acknowledge the fact that
the expenditure was larger than we expected it would be.
It would be inconvenient if we had to demonstrate how the
assignments were made. Under the circumstances, the exchanges
should not be neglected. The investigation shows that some of
the expenditure was irregular but the administrators were not
irresponsible.

We acknowledge that we are doing this on behalf of our clients
and have no interest in the insurance company. Our investigation
shows that the first inspection was prejudicial to the interests of
our clients. We have no responsibility for the insurance company
and no jurisdiction over their investigations. However, our
clients have a substantial interest to protect and we must demon-
strate that there has been no negligence on our part.

The administrator is in need of additional information before
he can give you a certificate. Under the circumstances, you
should do all you can to establish identification. What you are
doing is not only peculiar; it is very irregular. Why not go over
everything with him now? I believe it would be advantageous to
you to do so, and the representative of the insurance company
cannot find it objectionable.