Too funicular for me.
Those informers to whom I’m betrothed are so
mountain galore that what comes after their chicken run
is anyone’s guess. Not edification in the Ways
& Means of Malice that’s a certainty. O clutter
of Glockenspiel, may the one who excels beyond
all measure be measured, down a peg or two, say to
4am, too early for gamut, for Gospel to lead
with that proverbial left. Should I, in this the fifth
& final year of my notorious conviviality,
relish myself with money? How much against
the pugnacious would that set me? Ah, those
dark days in Peshawar, who would have thought
I’d be praised for health decoration: May no frenzy
visit Thee. In unison, yes, they all said it, gathered around
my stinking bed in dead of night. And No, your request
for sanctuary has been denied. So no problem
if I keep shaving with this rusty cutthroat? Mission
statement: clean face makes clean mind. Mind
my p’s & q’s & I’ll be mountain galore, yes? It’s
palpable the No they unison, backing away
from my cutthroat. Has it always been like this, these
in-the dead-of-night-visitors in their grass skirts like cops
in some never-never land harassing poor me? What
has history done to my body, that’s what I’d like to know.
It should never have been this mouth-to-mouth nothing
with much negative about my hearing. Should never have been
a throat with wire, the one who tried to whisper English, yours
truly, who chose to have his noise absorbed by those
who wandered in & saw undressed the great plenty
I might have been, might still be, that pilgrimage
to the tomb of Il Duce still possible, thereat to wax
lyrical, candied, anointed, lubricated, decked out
in latest design flak jacket, bowler hat & spats, offering
myself to the first psychopomp who has the wit
to trump me, trompe l’oeil, trot-it-out-let’s-see
what-you-got, etc. Is it time to swoon? I hope so,
my feet are killing me, grammarians on my back about
my stumblebum meter or lack thereof. Reduced
to a crawl, Il Duce looking down from on high.
Too funicular for me.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones