Fred Schmalz
THE SHORES
to feel all things in all ways rising from the sea
today we have harmony in the harbor
where three boys fly kites
from the rip-rap
boats and bodies eye each other
horizontal and vertical
their masts form a pile of spines
(hulls from above hulls from the waterline)
lash and oar green prow curves
return to the peripheral
sky offering floating debris
an atlas marked with shores
sinking continually slower and slower
THE COLLECTED ESCAPES
who preoccupied with mysticism
sews into pocket or pouch
charms (a stone a coin
knots in the right hand)
suggesting a sum of threads spells
our home’s collected escapes
uttered incantations
wrapped in date palm
tossed into a well
blown over a body
small photo of the Wonder Wheel
shot by Karl on a rainy morning years ago
tipped into a tiny square tin frame
guards the entry
with an evil eye
Susy hung one morning
a hand-painted sign over my desk
ADMISSION $1.00
extracted during Minneapolis
burlesque parlor demolition
evils and impurities
stitched along a length of black ribbon
appear before judgement
before sackcloth
oil blotches left padding
alongside blood flecks on the cuffs
red napkin pinned to the creosote
board (quivers in the room’s airflow)
its curled corner gestures outward
to a third dimension handwritten
Yoruban proverb from Soleida Rios
Pájaro que huye Morir de Noche
Cae de Mañana
the bird who flees to die at night
falls tomorrow
atop the bookcase a black matte
record sleeve (without record)
SOUNDS
OF SELF-
HYPNOSIS
THROUGH
RELAX
-ATION
A DOCUMENTARY RECORDING WITH MRS.
LEE B. STEINER. CERTIFIED
PSYCHOLOGIST
THE CONTENT AND TIMING OF THIS RE
CORDING HAVE BEEN VALIDATED WITH
NOVICES WHO LEARNED THE METHOD IN
THE PROCESS OF MAKING THIS RECORDING
on the mantel brown glass elixir bottles
sulfato de sodio purism en pulvo
lino semillas
urotopina schering
driftwood from the north shore of Lake Superior
and a paper men’s suit in a box
which I was told would bring
good luck if I set it ablaze
Biographical Statement:
to feel all things in all ways continually slower and slower — Cy Twombly