,,

Ron Silliman
]_
 Ron Silliman

Printed at TUUMBA PRESS

as Tuumba 46
October 1983
 copyright© 1983 by Ron Silliman

"Albany" first appeared in Iron wood, "Blue" in the

Paris Review, and "Carbon" in This . My thanks to
ALBANY for Cliff Silliman
the people involved for their support of my work.
BLUE for Gil Ott

CARBON .for Erica Hunt

Other books by Ron Silliman include :
CROW
MOHAWK
NOX
SITIING UP, STANDING, TAKING STEPS Being a part of THE ALPHABET
KETJAK
LEGEND (with Br!!" Andrews, Charles Bernstein,
Ray D iPalma, and Steve McCaffery)
TJANTING
BART

ISSN 0146. 2083

 ALBANY

If the function of writing is to "express the world."

My father withheld child support, forcing my mother to
live with her parents, my brother and I to be raised togeth-
er in a small room. Grandfather called them niggers. I can't
afford an automobile. Far across the calm bay stood a com-
plex of long yellow buildings, a prison. A line is the distance
between. They circled the seafood restaurant, singing "We
shall not be moved." My turn to cook. It was hard to ad-
just my sleeping to those hours when the sun was up. The
event was nothing like their report of it. How concerned
was I over her failure to have orgasms? Mondale's speech
was drowned by jeers. Ye wretched. She introduces herself
as a rape survivor. Yet his best friend was Hispanic. I de-
cided not to escape to Canada. Revenue enhancement. Com-
petition and spectacle, kinds of drugs. If it demonstrates
form some people won't read it. Television unifies conver-
sation. Died in action. If a man is a player, he will have no
job. Becoming prepared to live with less space. Live ammu-
nition. Secondary boycott. My crime is parole violation.
Now that the piecards have control. Rubin feared McClure
would read Ghost Tantras at the teach-in. This form is the
study group. The spares are impeccable, though filled with
deceit. A benefit reading. He seduced me. AFT, local I 352.
 leave you fragmented, off-balance. A lit drop. They photo-
Enslavement is permitted as punishment for crime. Her
graph Habermas to hide the hairlip. The verb to be admits
husband broke both of her eardrums. I used my grant to
the assertion. The body is a prison, a garden. In kind. Client
fix my teeth. They speak in Farsi at the corner store. YPSL.
populations (cross the tundra). Off the books. The whole
The national question. I look forward to old age with some
neighborhood is empty in the daytime. Children form lines
excitement. 42 years for Fibreboard Products. Food is a
at the end of each recess. Eminent domain. Rotating chair.
weapon. Yet rhe sight of people making love is deeply mov-
The history of Poland in 90 seconds. Flaming pintos. There
ing. Music is essential. The cops wear shields that serve as
is no such place as rhe economy, the self. That bird de-
masks. Her lungs heavy with asbestos. Two weeks too old monstrates the sky. Our home, we were told, had been bro-
to collect orphan's benefits. A woman on the train asks An- ken, but who were rhese people we lived with? Clubbed
gela Davis for an autograph. You get read your Miranda. in rhe stomach, she miscarried. There were bayonets on cam-
As if a correct line would somehow solve the future. They pus, cows in India, people shoplifting books. I just want to
murdered his parents just to make the point. It's not easy make it to lunch time. Uncritical of nationalist movements
if your audience doesn't identify as readers. Mastectomies in the Third W odd. Letting rhe dishes sit for a week. Ma-
are done by men. Our pets live at whim. Net income is cho culture of convicts. With a shotgun and "in defense"
down 13 3. Those distant sirens down in the valley signal rhe officer shot him in the face. Here, for a moment, we
great hinges in the lives of strangers. A phone tree. The are joined. The want-ads lie strewn on the table.
landlord's control of terror is implicit. N ot just a party but
a culture. Copayment. H e held rhe Magnum with both
hands and ordered me to stop. The garden is a luxury (a
civilization of snail and spider). They call their clubs barons.
They call their committees clubs. Her friendships wirh wom-
en are different. Talking so much is oppressive. Outplace-
ment. A shadowy locked facility using drugs and double-
celling (a rest home). That was the Sunday Henry's father
murdered his wife on the front porch. If it demonstrates
form they can't read it. If it demonstrates mercy they have
something worse in mind. Twice, carelessness has led to a-
bortion. To own a basement. Nor is the sky any less con-
structed. The design of a department store is intended to
 BLUE ing free of its posts. Tell me the one about the fellaheen
again.
It's a trap: they want you to think that light is Ve-
nus. Under a microscope we see them absorb their elders.
A spider plant is only one design. I took the message.
At dusk, very little is neutral. The corner merchant,
a quiet Persian, nods to her as she waits for a break in the
The Marchioness went out at five o'clock. The sky
traffic. Those who are not consigned to the prolonged con-
was blue yet tinged with pink over the white spires which
centration of driving have already fallen asleep. At the in-
broke up the east horizon. The smell of the afternoon's brief
tersection the sidewalks are rounded.
shower was still evident and small pools of clear water col-
The flower closes slowly about the unsuspecting fly.
lected in the tilt of the gutters, leaves and tiny curling scraps
The thickness of the gum limits the rhythm of his chewing.
of paper drifting in the miniature tides which nonetheless
Wasn't he happy here, viewing clip after clip of that old
caught and reflected the swollen sun, giving the boulevard
successful launch? The glove compartment never held a
its jeweled expression.
glove, nor I.
Government was therefore an attitude. Dour, the cam-
So you go faster, hunched over, avoiding the headlines
el pushed with his nose against the cyclone fence. The smell
in the boxes. The taller buildings suck the wind. That but-
of damp eucalyptus is everything! You stare at your car be-
ter only appears to be firm, the hood never will quite shut.
fore you get in.
Between what were once squares of concrete, anonymous
From here we can see the sex. They are folding the weeds bunch & spread.
flyers before stuffing them into envelopes. Badminton is
If challenged, its first response is to spit. This took
nothing to be ashamed of. Grease and old tire marks streak
place at the museum. Wires slope from the pole to the
the road. From here we can tell the sex.
house, where they gather, entering a narrow pipe along its
Rust designs that old truck door. The number of ob- side. This conveys motion. I am writing in shadows. Don't
jects is limited. Some leaves on the fern are more yellow. you worry about accessibility too?
Sooner or later you will have to get up to change the rec- Mother simply likes to have the books. Like a sere-
ord. That buzz is the dryer.
nade, only earlier. He lets the clay on his hands begin to
Longer ones demand a new approach: there's not e- dry. Fuchsia blossoms stain the walk, the doorknob stran-
nough water for a second cup. These crystals are useless on gled by rubber bands. Another thing, pepper is not a corn.
a sunless day. More than t11at, the fence is apt to give, pull-

L
 So what is despair? The cyclist trapped inside her
hdmet? The girl sent to the grocer for milk ? The moment
CARBON
before? The mops on the old porch have begun to dissolve.
Don't turn the light on till you get the shade. Atop a small
house, the cartoon dog types away. Turn the page.
I
Shorter is. The fern sits, its clay pot in a pool of wa-
ter. In doubles, that's called poaching. The back of the tele-
vision faces the window. From here you can smell the sex.
But this is a false tart, the trap door insecurely latched, a
Give those socks a little more time. More narrow.
tear in the velvet curtain. Yet the tear was but a drop of
At the arched door of the restaurant she checks her
glycerine sliding down her cheek. Nonetheless skin is not
watch, a delicate gold bracelet dangling from her wrist.
porcelain, however it spots.
Bands of a deep orange streak a near purple sky, the brisk
air shuddering in the small trees, slender branches bending
back. Children begin to gather up their toys; lights on, their But the display of sugar bowls shaped like cabbage contin-
homes begin to glow. The host, recognizing the Marchio- ued to draw its crowd, ears wired to rented cassettes, mill-
ness, invites her in. ing. So the cowboy slowly unfolded the napkin and, with
a ballpoint, began to draw his gun. Yet relative to what sleep
• is a lap defined ?

So the animals of the wood gathered round the spreading

princess, small animal noses twitching in the dusky pine-
scented air. But what chest of drawers is not the violence
of number? And then went down to the chips, set wheel
to gambit, forth in the Reno night.

Yet a chair is not avoidable. Nonetheless a V of shingles

turned upside down is not a roof any more than the glaze
in a potter's eye, which is blue compared to the ocean's ol-
ive gray. So there's a vacuum just for the car.
But a point is reached implying distance, implicating even II
the Slinky' s progress across the clipped lawn in the face of
a berating rooster. So the scar tissue of definition settles,
forming the crust of syntax. Yet the sprinkler is a portable A simple message staples the sleeping, gaseous, known for
fountain. his alludic (dip) f:leece.

Later, there's no more coffee in the hollow of the cup, mere- Gravity evaporates the eye's cushion.
ly a brown stain, while an impatient audience waits in the
dark, starting to whistle and stamp. But but. Thus purple
Heroic scrubpads, red-yellow, stalk the slate, suck knobs,
is a trademark and this violet is red.
scud.

Therefore the semicolon is but a hiccup in the line. Yet the

The ranch glows in the postcard, jeeps waddling thru sage,
narrative of shadow crosses the garden, cool and damp.
fridge shudder, sun seen, registered dianetics.
Nonetheless, those two guys in that parked Buick have just
got to be narcs.
Arrows in the heart of blintz, straw with a bend, stutters
the pickup's direct-to-disc shag.

Paprika mascara, tuna with a reason, tender is the hobby,

sees in Elko the plantains.

Inverted bulb snaps mouth.

 III IV

Invented blob snips north: stanza shuts the kiddygate. So Damp, like the sandwich of reason. Second, because I
a body sags with the age of reason. always have. A fish named for a figure in Shakespeare: a pol-
itician or outlaw portrayed by Robert Redford. This proves
conjunction, jet trails dotting 'i's in the mountains, cat lick-
Biopsy finagles closures: art-broom viewed as multilith, ro- ing its penis. Look at the city through a microscope. These
lodex, sky. Therefore cannabis unequals fingers against the fingers refer back to the previous sentence. The smell of
slate. burning leaves clogs the air.
Yet down the hill is In Town. A plastic pumpkin into
Harmony mops the auditorium: pink as Texas deferred, which to put candies. Thereby disputing the chimes of my
doors adjoined index perpendicular wall. So this is where lexicon, vacant, blooming, spotted, terry cloth band about
the emotion is, spotted. its wrist. Stand there real natural like: rhyme with the shape
of pancreas. A taxidermist backorders horns, smell of chick-
en, while the streetlamps pop on. Little pyramids atop each
Glass pistol worn as box: do not feed the numbers. But al-
taxi shimmer. Coming soon to a paragraph near you.
cohol is its own remark.
So there's always a drain in the floor of a tavern john.
Each word starting to bloom at the heat of your approach:
Pentagon of tot-finder blooms: earwig turns at thunder's a sculpture from which to hang the fern of a satisfaction.
linen. Yet principle of housing projects across axis of traffic Nor am I the only person in this room speaking aloud to
at twilight. myself, occupational hazard. Rope-a-dope to justified mar-
gin, form of command. Bluster of espresso machine, long
Steady dtizzle of connotation: push-pull with deckled lip. levers, drowning taped guitar, exact depiction of incorrect
However canvas tablets start to fade on mesa. answer: as yet. Cigars do not float above Urah moonscape.
Therefore tropics.

Nextness is wetter and I want hard: sponge of state with

echo in place. But then the radio begins to ring.

j
 l

v cup.

A discount despair (to spare): brilliant C of brick, waves of

The necessity of this writing is. sand through wind exporting.

Exhaustion completes the thought Sharp hawk of Skratz laugh against perfect all-over surface
pressure of flattened Hall fills planetarium. Oil of Aylon,
"pangs traced upon nard" what money Beuys. Ghettobox medication, pillows without
cases, Tepper ware to loss of dividend in word Acconci.

Burden's theory was Abuse the performance. Drip of Mari-

oni at base of palm. Thumb of cocoanut in sea of syrup, Because heliocentric, therefore asymmetric.
corridors in shape of Fox.
Solder iron sound source
Then small girl applied to kitty: plane's shadow explodes
before we touch down. blue cusp
First invent the bottle : cat insists on lap ergo sum.
Between saxophones strike a syntax : do you mark the space
at the page top?

Sequence of loop shades into angst

Steam up shower window before chart
Enjambed by brigands on a voyage to

Lubricated afternoons all topless: the space of the shadow

contracts, tho it fills our descending field of vision.

Demonstrate the jade tree: therefore coffee rooted in the

.... --
::a:
 VI VII

1) Aspics of the theory of mulch (tone) pamper thought (re- We, the mind, rain storm, five card stud, settle, setting
writing its will). doves adrift in the air above the volley. But pigeon's mode's
debris, deuce. Atari tacked to cauliflower starts to walk.
2) Embolism of adverb corrodes the noun modeled on the Jacks scuff along the surface of the plaza, face up. Bulldog
in a derby closes the lone eye with a doubloon. Tint the
small intestine.
world, fore of clubs, amber of bourbon. Therefore tree's bad
as its bark.
3) No such thing as a phrase.
Prosody alone now, brisk later days, Y framed by drizzle
4) Sentences join, softly weeping amid the sway of lily so cobbled, lurch, lurk, look, the page curling into brown,
stalks. the spotted eye, our hero is the porch, bland and leafy,
creamed. Nor any gravel to shade the queen, stalk scraped
by air. Thou dumb-born rook, song fails to castle. Scorch
5) Prose is a maize.
pan to hard, face rang herd pores together. Solo nostril Bares
(pulse), illumines the mushroomed forest pink. Feet first,
6) Echoes gather, later to be removed by Q-tip. toward the punctuation, stones giving way. The dove hang-
glides through rhe fog.
7) Geiger counter sweeps, then blinks.
Smell of rot, salt, the morh ball, testicle or sea. Brain grinds
to caffeinated loop (shudder), the long blades bend on the
lawn, chips gather while stuntmen swing silently between
channels to score chalkscrape chorus. Breasts are not twins.
I see you (and raise you one). But take notes to demonstrate
fractal unity of rain against sprinkler patterned storm or
saddle the vice-president. I've already breathed this air. The
sedan goes straight to pool's bottom.
 l

I can understand your frustration but. Zeroism dictates rect- nor any. Invited Bob slaps moth: clouds beflag stadium of
angularity in art, by confab. Trowel caked in peat sinks into sky, vend flocks. Knit cap surrounds ears -- a command is
toasties. Slowly a flamingo looks about. The air is ribbed felt for shifts. Effect of ground cover hedged in rhyme, snail
with radar. Bare gleaming shoulder. Next. bait, extends preserve to galvinized steps. A rain begins
with drops.
Reichian macromusic vs. dog on the porch, unanimous in
its foliage, a shortcut, centers on votive cactus, spacking
liquids in the prime rate. Nervous energy registers for drift:
three of doves .. So what is the outside? Massive molac points
to jaw, crushing Buicks warm in their primer coats. Tanker
kindles on the bay. Pinesol cologne baked in onions, pasted
and stapled, wasted in maple, basted in apple in triplicate.
It is not the signal that's busy.

Coathangers dangle from a brass floor lamp, a wind chime,

a breeze so slight that chopper high over 280 might be the
cause. Intent on flowering commerce (royal flush), a theory
of porch has eluded the more honed mind. Thoughts are
like suction to the starfish which goes rigid in the gift shop.
It is not the elimination of constraints but their shapely
abuse: the arcric bunny hopped over the retort, moss at the
base of dwarf cypress. Torch panda hard, fangs laced to
leather. Ink in the ballpoint clots. Rose wilt models direc-
tion of time, a syntax.

A century (a surgeon) requires patience (their stickers). Doves

have criticized our monuments: I know a little tune (num-
ber means less than chips). But one step in each direction

l
J_
l

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l
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