Poems and artwork copyright, 2007 by Matina L. Stamatakis. No part of these works may be reproduced or sold in any form without prior consent from author. e-mail: matinals@gmail.com
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Table of Contents:
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Book One: A QUIET GAME OF FALCONRY
Book Two: SCRAP FIGURINES
Book Three: WIRE GAUZE AND FILUM VEIN
Book Four: SWOLLEN ROTUNDAS
Book Five: VIGNETTE GAZES
Book Six: PHOTOGRAVURES
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Book One: A QUIET GAME OF FALCONRY
Book Two: SCRAP FIGURINES
Book Three: WIRE GAUZE AND FILUM VEIN
Book Four: SWOLLEN ROTUNDAS
Book Five: VIGNETTE GAZES
Book Six: PHOTOGRAVURES
..................................................A QUIET GAME OF FALCONRY
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..................................................................................................... ......... [nesting]
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Contents:
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[[ birds of artifice sculpture-formed ]]
[[song of movement and migration ]]
[[ the myth before the myth of Hyperborea ]]
[[ spatials/methodology # 1 ]]
[[ xeno canto ]]
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[[ birds of artifice sculpture-formed ]]
.
we joked about the bell-sheep,
Tiresias’ 7 year vagina--
...................... [a failed bird flies head-
first into a switched- on cutter saw]
now she is a speckled grouse, no, dusky; a tiny
language encapsulates in her throat:
--learnt the high-stepped mating dance
................ [what is next?]
--Galiformes; I know my name
..........[what is next is next]
--obscurus, a scrape
of ground hides this young
layer of twigs…
even serpents
are not as thrifty
.
we joked about the bell-sheep,
Tiresias’ 7 year vagina--
...................... [a failed bird flies head-
first into a switched- on cutter saw]
now she is a speckled grouse, no, dusky; a tiny
language encapsulates in her throat:
--learnt the high-stepped mating dance
................ [what is next?]
--Galiformes; I know my name
..........[what is next is next]
--obscurus, a scrape
of ground hides this young
layer of twigs…
even serpents
are not as thrifty
[[ the song of movement and migration ]]
.
these into three canticas broken; lute canto: eleven
.........jaunty silhouettes of thunder:
eleven nascent aureoles of black, blue electric,
infinite numbers parallax, fingers'
...............lithe abacus
a flighty, pillow-thighed machine--
the farthest outreach of
flute cantos, painted ocarina, sky tongue--
.............all sounds disperse
.....among the clouds,
over mounts we bore name:
...........................fluidity
[it tucked our wearied troubadours to sleep]
.
these into three canticas broken; lute canto: eleven
.........jaunty silhouettes of thunder:
eleven nascent aureoles of black, blue electric,
infinite numbers parallax, fingers'
...............lithe abacus
a flighty, pillow-thighed machine--
the farthest outreach of
flute cantos, painted ocarina, sky tongue--
.............all sounds disperse
.....among the clouds,
over mounts we bore name:
...........................fluidity
[it tucked our wearied troubadours to sleep]
[[ the myth before the myth of Hyperborea ]]
.
the soot-flecked sun
shot from its spleen a cluster
....of dried-out star thistles,
feldspar dust [7 magnified grains]
--was on the front lawn gathering-up
broken haploids with your skirt, watched
........them crackle into tiny silvers--
.........they painted the lawn
.........with glistening muscles,
.....atrophic palms, they of:
--silkweed, latex-lathered
--a bellowing organum
--polyphonies
& de-harmonized [to the winds,
the winds well-aimed geometry--
to the hungry winging latitude all sky-borne
...................... & fluid-with
of honeybees crystallized-- hymnodies--yes,
hymnodies of space with orreries flung about
..................the gardens to doily-blot
.....drippings of starburst sapped-out
WE PAINTED the land paean, the palmettes
each orthodox tapestry votive & parti-
......................colored, then a deeper
................ isolation
.............................. *
a frenzied child--with veins to the wind--
.......................picks up a canary’s moan
where shadowed prisms of bodies
....are harnessed
40 feet below a frozen river,
....................*
I search [the faceless Sun God says]
where ill-bred saplings
frost layers supine; sweet,
other muted tang of lips brine-
.............encrusted, grit
sediment airy--no, not airy--fickle
bones of malnourishment
.............shaped to an icy divide
*
then sparrow romanticized
..........bough [again] wound
bone up--the snapping thin
.................two
....of salt & angels past
.............rectitude
.
the soot-flecked sun
shot from its spleen a cluster
....of dried-out star thistles,
feldspar dust [7 magnified grains]
--was on the front lawn gathering-up
broken haploids with your skirt, watched
........them crackle into tiny silvers--
.........they painted the lawn
.........with glistening muscles,
.....atrophic palms, they of:
--silkweed, latex-lathered
--a bellowing organum
--polyphonies
& de-harmonized [to the winds,
the winds well-aimed geometry--
to the hungry winging latitude all sky-borne
...................... & fluid-with
of honeybees crystallized-- hymnodies--yes,
hymnodies of space with orreries flung about
..................the gardens to doily-blot
.....drippings of starburst sapped-out
WE PAINTED the land paean, the palmettes
each orthodox tapestry votive & parti-
......................colored, then a deeper
................ isolation
.............................. *
a frenzied child--with veins to the wind--
.......................picks up a canary’s moan
where shadowed prisms of bodies
....are harnessed
40 feet below a frozen river,
....................*
I search [the faceless Sun God says]
where ill-bred saplings
frost layers supine; sweet,
other muted tang of lips brine-
.............encrusted, grit
sediment airy--no, not airy--fickle
bones of malnourishment
.............shaped to an icy divide
*
then sparrow romanticized
..........bough [again] wound
bone up--the snapping thin
.................two
....of salt & angels past
.............rectitude
[[ spatials/methodology # 1 ]]
.
--muscle torque sinew
--blades of shocked pins, forceps
--divided crossroads, maybe
--musk crosses hands, untouched
--spaces celestial & cold
methodology…
............begins as milk teeth,
synthetic eye depositories,
counsels flesh to pliancy--
say twig elbows bend,
ends where filaments often end
at the bottom of clouds--
.....................dutiful, cumulus
.........bunched then tucked,
hemmed about electricity--thin,
...........................we
to insist upon them
curtailed doves
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--muscle torque sinew
--blades of shocked pins, forceps
--divided crossroads, maybe
--musk crosses hands, untouched
--spaces celestial & cold
methodology…
............begins as milk teeth,
synthetic eye depositories,
counsels flesh to pliancy--
say twig elbows bend,
ends where filaments often end
at the bottom of clouds--
.....................dutiful, cumulus
.........bunched then tucked,
hemmed about electricity--thin,
...........................we
to insist upon them
curtailed doves
[[ xeno canto ]]
.
birds carpet the floors of our abandonment
in pairs of expert mixing; a south
................................................wall appliqué
.......................of brown and russet
tornados
painting florae with hyacinth macaw
red-naped sapsucker, pigments both light,
......airy, dry/marsh, black-skinned
.......siskin--violent-green swallow
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birds carpet the floors of our abandonment
in pairs of expert mixing; a south
................................................wall appliqué
.......................of brown and russet
tornados
painting florae with hyacinth macaw
red-naped sapsucker, pigments both light,
......airy, dry/marsh, black-skinned
.......siskin--violent-green swallow
[[ cadenza ]]
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the soloists electric Donizetti,
your virtuosos maledetto
Ave Maria
Ave Maria
...........with birds executed
......to the point of redundancy:
--a mating bird learns its tune quickest
..................when it is in heat
--interrupts frequently
--swollen syrinx, doubled-up
--2-3 Kilohertz of vibrato
--dove [9] calls to vapor
--clacking of mandibles--echoed
.
the soloists electric Donizetti,
your virtuosos maledetto
Ave Maria
Ave Maria
...........with birds executed
......to the point of redundancy:
--a mating bird learns its tune quickest
..................when it is in heat
--interrupts frequently
--swollen syrinx, doubled-up
--2-3 Kilohertz of vibrato
--dove [9] calls to vapor
--clacking of mandibles--echoed
[[ taxidermy scars ]]
.
to make pigeons of our fingers
.........[squawk-squawk]--
end up with two beaks, squawk dissected
throats, whoops of incessant squawking
.........[it doesn’t help to recall
the moment of birds
..............in pain--
the house is done: we’ve built
our syringes out of frozen
..sprigs, synthetic
glossae, all slicked-
...........................on prostheses]
*
................she claims
identity is found only inside
....................the body--
not outside: beaks
are superficial
parts, so are eyes. feet
*
I help myself to a bucket of scars,
a one-eyed jackal, arrangements
of skin whittled into trophy bone
............archaeopteryx
glossed-over eyes bewilderment
settling on hollowed-out bodies in mist
she speaks to me like I’m a broken girl
with my hands greedily placed
.....................inside a cookie jar
..........feeling for the emptiness
................that encrusted
at the bottom long,
long ago
.
to make pigeons of our fingers
.........[squawk-squawk]--
end up with two beaks, squawk dissected
throats, whoops of incessant squawking
.........[it doesn’t help to recall
the moment of birds
..............in pain--
the house is done: we’ve built
our syringes out of frozen
..sprigs, synthetic
glossae, all slicked-
...........................on prostheses]
*
................she claims
identity is found only inside
....................the body--
not outside: beaks
are superficial
parts, so are eyes. feet
*
I help myself to a bucket of scars,
a one-eyed jackal, arrangements
of skin whittled into trophy bone
............archaeopteryx
glossed-over eyes bewilderment
settling on hollowed-out bodies in mist
she speaks to me like I’m a broken girl
with my hands greedily placed
.....................inside a cookie jar
..........feeling for the emptiness
................that encrusted
at the bottom long,
long ago
[[ yellow:shedding dew ]]
.
you have a pelican’s mouth: it never closes,
lately you’ve been housing helpless fish
............[one guppy…two guppy…
.......................three guppy…]
............my thighs swell
...........every time
...........I hear her say
fecundity............vicissitude
.............. exaction:
a dénouement of flesh expands
pebbles of concrete, photophobic: the
twilled light astounded
..........two jagged puddles of broken glass
paludal & fumigant,
..............gassed from within
love in New Jerusalem, swallowed
................this:
--our tiny, triumphant fingers
their boisterous gooseflesh offerings
--sickled-shaped with mine
--the folly of half-devoured bone
--when emboldened brow bends with volition
--stanch until broken
.
you have a pelican’s mouth: it never closes,
lately you’ve been housing helpless fish
............[one guppy…two guppy…
.......................three guppy…]
............my thighs swell
...........every time
...........I hear her say
fecundity............vicissitude
.............. exaction:
a dénouement of flesh expands
pebbles of concrete, photophobic: the
twilled light astounded
..........two jagged puddles of broken glass
paludal & fumigant,
..............gassed from within
love in New Jerusalem, swallowed
................this:
--our tiny, triumphant fingers
their boisterous gooseflesh offerings
--sickled-shaped with mine
--the folly of half-devoured bone
--when emboldened brow bends with volition
--stanch until broken
...................................................SCRAP FIGURINES
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.................................................................................................. .........[dress-form]
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Contents:
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.................................................................................................. .........[dress-form].
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Contents:
[[ a list of why things bend ]]
[[ giving birth to anonymous speech ]]
[[ tin idols ]]
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a needy baby, babies--bottles of milk-
......salacious stories of espionage,
.................................war
to sculpt heroes out of skid row slats:
apply the beacon of courage here--
......no,
here
where the sun’s penumbra
secretes images dark, febrile
the tenderest myopia;
........a paschal lamb
*
give us
our daily
victuals
.
a needy baby, babies--bottles of milk-
......salacious stories of espionage,
.................................war
to sculpt heroes out of skid row slats:
apply the beacon of courage here--
......no,
here
where the sun’s penumbra
secretes images dark, febrile
the tenderest myopia;
........a paschal lamb
*
give us
our daily
victuals
[[ methodology # 2 ]]
.
immediately a streak
......of snapped back broken filaments
...................of laughter
cackled with midnight vultures
at 8 am a naked light
........against
morning door,with tea:
....................earl..............
gray
we sat and watched lamplight
claw at the walls--
.......................................*
..........eternity, where’s eternity?
...............does it ever quell?
in our bellies; a place of wonderment,
with each trochaic sigh steeped
............restless to distress
our corkscrew bodies; a 1969 meeting
.......................at dusk
overheard lips take their final stress
........................spondee?
...........where’s your spondee?
.....it brushes someone
...else’s neighboring
....................word
will Joris’ Canto Diurno be sung to choirs
.........................of bitten twigs?
................................*
...our words
are absentia
..........of all presence--
that which means, means
absolutely
nothing
.
immediately a streak
......of snapped back broken filaments
...................of laughter
cackled with midnight vultures
at 8 am a naked light
........against
morning door,with tea:
....................earl..............
gray
we sat and watched lamplight
claw at the walls--
.......................................*
..........eternity, where’s eternity?
...............does it ever quell?
in our bellies; a place of wonderment,
with each trochaic sigh steeped
............restless to distress
our corkscrew bodies; a 1969 meeting
.......................at dusk
overheard lips take their final stress
........................spondee?
...........where’s your spondee?
.....it brushes someone
...else’s neighboring
....................word
will Joris’ Canto Diurno be sung to choirs
.........................of bitten twigs?
................................*
...our words
are absentia
..........of all presence--
that which means, means
absolutely
nothing
[[ a hushed disequilibrium ]]
.
........the elastic diagrams of palms
......search for hidden matrices: press
............................leathern
............spirals, ellipses outward,
...............flesh-flushes into skein--
......................bone rivulets
......once the doorway sat
...................stilled
......once through my body
........a fierce khamsin blew
...bottled air, blankets of sand
once
.......................once
a beautiful Arab
carpenter refused
.................the wooden slats
.......of my spine; they arched--
nonetheless--to spite him;
my mons veneris sat inside a cup
.......I watched it bloom into
.....a shrinking violet [James1:10],
..lavender pulp [Song of Solomon 6:24]
...it was the gentlest heresy,
.................................................maigre
...once
....the brashest language
..........of my tongues
....slowly ate themselves
...................to death
then the green ants
.......of dream--who fell
from the clouds--
....dissected
.......me
.
........the elastic diagrams of palms
......search for hidden matrices: press
............................leathern
............spirals, ellipses outward,
...............flesh-flushes into skein--
......................bone rivulets
......once the doorway sat
...................stilled
......once through my body
........a fierce khamsin blew
...bottled air, blankets of sand
once
.......................once
a beautiful Arab
carpenter refused
.................the wooden slats
.......of my spine; they arched--
nonetheless--to spite him;
my mons veneris sat inside a cup
.......I watched it bloom into
.....a shrinking violet [James1:10],
..lavender pulp [Song of Solomon 6:24]
...it was the gentlest heresy,
.................................................maigre
...once
....the brashest language
..........of my tongues
....slowly ate themselves
...................to death
then the green ants
.......of dream--who fell
from the clouds--
....dissected
.......me
[[ penumbrae ]]
.
.........brief this cluster of twigs,
.....their twining--
couldn’t have been a cloud
...........................in the morning;
.......a towering bucket of sand,
perhaps
.........the sun poultice spreads across
.........my belly; an ache
..............to grow dandelions
from umbilicus-- see if they dare slide
across body like hands
so often do,
.......................to settle on
inconspicuous skin,
only to find the bushes
are not hiding behind me,
half-observed
.....weep away shadows, umbrae--
......no sparagmos for ritualistic flesh.
....no votives could ever dim my face well
....enough for me to forget my face
...................ever existed.
this known:
the truth I wear as camouflage
......does not wear me back
.
.........brief this cluster of twigs,
.....their twining--
couldn’t have been a cloud
...........................in the morning;
.......a towering bucket of sand,
perhaps
.........the sun poultice spreads across
.........my belly; an ache
..............to grow dandelions
from umbilicus-- see if they dare slide
across body like hands
so often do,
.......................to settle on
inconspicuous skin,
only to find the bushes
are not hiding behind me,
half-observed
.....weep away shadows, umbrae--
......no sparagmos for ritualistic flesh.
....no votives could ever dim my face well
....enough for me to forget my face
...................ever existed.
this known:
the truth I wear as camouflage
......does not wear me back
[[ giving birth to anonymous speech ]]
.
…the last cognizant spore sucked replete of this…
…every sigh with unsteady volition…
…over-seared breakfasts of skin…
…oxygen/nectar--salinity/procreation…
…a struck bow of thought [perhaps]…
…es grande el cielo
extend arms for the air to embrace. I whisper
extravagant space….
........... […pray it does not feel the weight
.............of my words on its shoulders…]
.
…the last cognizant spore sucked replete of this…
…every sigh with unsteady volition…
…over-seared breakfasts of skin…
…oxygen/nectar--salinity/procreation…
…a struck bow of thought [perhaps]…
…es grande el cielo
extend arms for the air to embrace. I whisper
extravagant space….
........... […pray it does not feel the weight
.............of my words on its shoulders…]
[[ halcyon days ]]
.
.......accustomed
....malleable
with daylight orbs,
trees prod quiet hills with arch;
a distant settlement
.for birds’
.........crystal beak
remnants sliver-spun
............of nature
& its engorged coattails,
cockatiel dusty orange cheeks--
a slicking of viscose sap,
......................xanthic
from chrysalis residuum
..............saturated
.........in the choroids of our eyes,
the martyred glow of burning trees
.....drooped to decrescendos, finale
--no quiet grace of mother
as she soothes child
...................to sleep
.
.......accustomed
....malleable
with daylight orbs,
trees prod quiet hills with arch;
a distant settlement
.for birds’
.........crystal beak
remnants sliver-spun
............of nature
& its engorged coattails,
cockatiel dusty orange cheeks--
a slicking of viscose sap,
......................xanthic
from chrysalis residuum
..............saturated
.........in the choroids of our eyes,
the martyred glow of burning trees
.....drooped to decrescendos, finale
--no quiet grace of mother
as she soothes child
...................to sleep
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