Cover Art FromAngel Poison
With the death of the wonderful publisher, Jennifer Bosveld, and the demise of Pudding House Publications, Angel Poison is now out of print although I have a small, treasured collection of copies. I will be re-issuing this as a Kindle book sometime in the near future.
Why are angels overcome with grief?
Looking at our world and the next, Rilke said that angels could not tell the difference
between the living and the dead. In the twenty-first century, this distinction has become more blurred than ever, with more and more people stumbling in darkness. Consciousness helps. That is why I have written such poems as those in this collection.
first the nouns
in the year twelve-twenty-six
tangut a language died
all its words died
verbs adjectives nounds
none was left
after khan
destroyed the city
that had dared to kill his father
as they attempted its defeat
in the morning of that day
longer relatively calmer words
attempted life and died
strung together into sentences
if you let me live
I will give you my treasure
then the morning sun burned on
and frantic intonations died
grab the kids run to the field
try to swim across the river
wait for me at your father's farm
by evening's mop-up time
as swords stalked
through the bloody streets of tangut
requests for mercy died
please no let my child live
oh please my daughter no
near sunset all the words were dead
some communication clung to life
but as darkness fell
screams died sobs died
and tangut wasn't heard again
after twelve-twenty-six in central asia
the year of the wrath of khan
no way out
special comrades
crawl under machine gun fire with you
as rats zigzag away from friends fallen in the mud
when there is no way out
take your classes
while you get your lump checked
keep on teaching
while you wait for the results
are unbelievers
nevertheless
buy perpetual prayers
for your mother's and father's souls
go with you to spray bullets
in the school
that has tormented you
until death seems the only answer
go mad with you
sit quietly beside you in the hospital
crawl into bed with you
comfort your screams in the night
listen to your whispered confessions
twenty-four-seven
absolve you in pain
or with quiet authority eat your sin
when there is no way out
when there is no way out