POETRY BY CRAIG ROBERTSON


Page Two

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LIQUIDCRYSTALDISPLAY

the liquidcrystaldisplay read
anchored in the sway of the tide
schools of equations swim in again
with a rush and a grin
to greet the red swell

red tide

no one ever does
the bedroom phosphorescence
draws a silent crowd
an orgiastic quiet time
stand in the dark with us.







PICKUP BED

At the end of the disappearing
dirt road was a garbage dump
inside the front gate
an old truck was parked

walking past it
the motor running
a dog asleep in the back

at that moment
the dog growled back in his throat
without opening its eyes
or looking up.




A GLANCING BLOW


Allright
you can argue about this all night
long--but what it basically
boils down to is this:

no one knows how far the cat went
when it was gone for two days

don't say anything--wait until
it boils down even more
down to the essence

a glancing blow
dissolves the fragrance
into pale bottles of water

down along the red zone
where the ladies crawl
and kick on the carphone

leave it to the index men
who bruise so easily
that they are continually
covered with purple blotches

hair falling out along the shore
as we scream along in a rented van
trying to understand why
they are constantly revising their accents
noisy trojans soldier ants
defining who eats who
by default

small nibbles of thought welling up
there is a timing delay
between what they say
and what we hear
so turn up the volume on the television
and knock the cat
off the windowsill
use its angry howl
to measure the distance to the floor




SAINT RESISTOR

recycled
its endless circuit printed
reinvented each time
in antithetical patterns
sorting couples
like matched pairs
on output pins
laughing together
a peeled back lip

a pull tab
what the hell is that--
there--just behind the eyeteeth--
a little black chip?





DOUBLE WHAMMY


Each word displays its own resonance
letters vibrate in their sockets
lightbulbs as the train passes

if you can concede Kirlian Photography
then you must admit
the field holding a paragraph together

pushing the edge of the mailbox
lying in the envelope
that sentence you wrote
evolves into anagrams and puns
where once was meaning
there is none--don't blink

the letters are engraved
before the photoreceptors fire:

a double whammy.





ANOTHER VISIT TO LA BAS

maybe we should re-examine the incorrect,
the dark and loveless, the curiously erect

perhaps we should re-evaluate the desire to dissolve
like a snail in salt water
breathing another atmosphere
full of fingernails and fluids
we fear
but defiantly swim



SCALES

time spent waiting for the light
to come through the windows
to fall from your eyes


for thoughts cross slowly
into action
what is created in an instant
after a long space with no hyphens

 

14 FT. 2 by 4s

up above the hay
was a space between the rafters
spanned by fourteen foot two by fours
where the long lumber was kept
dust sifting down through the air
dark blood of the light
molecules
dirt angels
new evidence has been uncovered
in the stalls
strange mechanical sounds issue
from the jaws of life
teeth closed so tight
you couldn't make your money sweat
sitting on the hay
with the wide doors open
and the drainage ditch gurgling
into the pond
feeding the rushes clacking together,
the goat changes into a waterfall of energy
grinding up the floorboards
with untrimmed hooves.



BLACK RUBBER

we sat on the couch
stupid like businessmen
brief and repulsive in silence
split our conversations
dark river ribbons
fluttering in the wet mist
that swirls with red outlined smiles
pasted on the faces of round card girls
black
rubber
senseless pounding face-off
reading fortunes under glowing lamps
zippo lighters always light faster
wood and plaster
black
rubber
sensible enough to wash my hands
over and over
until the germs dance
that wicked little boxing ring dance.


PERIOD

no one revealed the ending
it just pretty much
happened that way
every movement was erased
with a bouncy little rubber eraser
pocket glove
a small penlight
that he accidentally turned on
absurdly revealing
his x-ray change
slumming again
down among the carnations
the worms along the footpath
slowing down time
slowing.
down.
time.
until punctuation
no longer exists