Desert City Poetry Series

[Ken Rumble <rumblek AT bellsouth.net>]

Please spread far and wide.....

Who:  Brian Henry; author of _Astronaut_, 
_American Incident_, and _Graft_; editor of 
Verse Magazine; Robert Redford's stunt double.

Who:  Tara Rebele; performance artist, poet, 
black belt; author of the forthcoming _And 
I'm Not Jenny_; can change truck tires with 
her bare hands while blindfolded.

What:  Desert City Poetry Series, bigger than 
last year.

When:  This Saturday, March 19th, at 8pm, 2005.

Where:  Internationalist Books, 405 W. 
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC, directly 
above the center of the earth.

Why:  "Bless the conceptual artist for his 
brazen images / Know there is no knowing 
here" "It isn't unpleasant as one / might 
expect / sitting up late / on the sofa / with 
the ghosts / preferable even / to years spent 
/ refusing / to be / haunted."

See you there.....

Next Reading:

March 26th:  Kent Johnson & Patrick Herron

*Internationalist Books:
http://www.internationalistbooks.org

*Desert City Poetry Series:
http://desertcity.blogspot.com

*Brian Henry:
http://www.octopusmagazine.com/issue04/html/main.html

*Tara Rebele:
http://www.tararebele.com/work.html

Contact the DCPS:  Ken Rumble, director:
rumblek at bellsouth dot net

"Tink"
by Brian Henry

Nothing rhymes with ‘pizza’ here.

The girl is walking up my leg and back

to jump over (not on) my head.

She rhymes what she is with ‘floral.’

The blood on the carpet from my

bloody bloody nose will come out

if I attend to it vite vite!

A yucky cricket, a lot of ladybugs.

He was not a bad hat, just bored.

Did not burn the beasts in his menagerie.

It does not occur to the girl to skin me.

To wonder if I’m rabid, behaving

erratically. At least the wallpaper

is not florid. Stripes asserting order

and direction. I color the mermaid’s bikini

top silver, her crotch and the tail beneath it

silver. Of course I linger. There,

and where the fairy’s cleavage.

The other princesses are all human.

They do not interest me.

At least when I get out of here

I will have a family to go home to.

While it might be more than I deserve,

it is more than you can say.


from "In Penumbral Flats"
by Tara Rebele

Characters:

Lucia: live performer

Mother: video projection

Mental Health Professional (MHP): cardboard 
cutout with audio feed


Note: Lucia begins in the light in order to 
look back at her shadows. The initial Summer 
section of the piece chronologically follows 
the final Spring section. This should be 
indicated in production.

The movement sequence between seasons is 
indicated in {} and should occur in a 
circular, perhaps spiral, pattern. The 
movement sequence at the end of the initial 
Summer section should break from the pattern. 
Percussion rhythms may accompany the movement 
sequences, paced according to the speed of 
the movement; if percussion is not used, some 
noise would be appropriate.


**



Summer


Lucia:

It isn’t unpleasant as one

might expect

sitting up late

on the sofa

with the ghosts

preferable even

to years spent

refusing

to be

haunted.

One could blame

the wind

were there any

to be had.


Mother:

Lucia. Turn off the lights. It’s late.


Lucia:

Late but not


MHP:

Medication compliance.


Lucia:

every second

again

every

the heaviest of


Mother:

Lucia. The lights. We’ll have a fire. I’ve 
read about those lamps ...


MHP:

Breakthrough episodes.


Lucia:

Every second.

So when you stand

in the light

your shadow

lurks.


Lest you forget

yesterday

you were

Yet when darkness



there’s no shadow

of the shadow

no trace

to long

and long

it lasts

if one

lasts

long

enough


point A erased


again

This is the better


MHP:

Maintenance is crucial. Regular patterns. 
Monitor moods.
Continue treatment. As directed.


Mother:

You haven’t taken your pills. Here.

Aren’t you warm with all that?