EMBANKMENTS

This seems as good a time as any to mention that Damn the Caesars editor Rich Owens has a new book out on BlazeVOX, and it's really, really good.

[Take this:]

MISREADING HEIDEGGER

under nail in the new dusk

we live in a house
we can never hope to own

dwelling on the banks of
indefensible investments

thorny tendrils descend

curled behind teeth
ungainly—unfurled like flags

[Or this:]

TECHNICAL LETTER

alone to rest—tired of rest
return from chance
                        sable wind
bent subordinate over tombs
grieve—undisturbed
sick to death of uncertainty

[Or this:]

PATCHENESQUE

Daydreaming on the production line
they come to me across
a tangled ribbon of conveying—

                                  aluminum cans
like a formidable army marching
ten abreast beneath fluorescent bulbs
flashing like silver teeth in the sun.

[You probably realize now you need this]