Rochelle Owens
New Poem 2020, 'Our Ruinscape'
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The sun too shines into cesspools and is not polluted.
— Diogenes
On the cover
of a Science magazine
a rare image
disturbingly informative
you stare down
pursing your lips your neck
to the side
plagued by doubt
a hologram
of the skeleton of a horse —
I must not jump-the-gun
*
The rapt reader stands
in the space of an enigma
the hidden contours
of raw data
*
Under a dead blue glow
a laboratory technician observes
a configuration of microbes
rapidly zigzagging
zigzagging microbes
in a petri dish colonizing dispersing
precise methodical
biological compulsion
*
“O Maggie you wrecked my bed
then kicked me in the head”
The love of logic
the logic of love I must not
jump the gun
*
Zigzags of black lines
circles triangles rectangles
subatomic particles
f l o a t i n g
on a computer screen
molecular the art
of nature amorphous the forms —
corkscrews of white smoke
blinking in and out
the spiral tail of a comet
charred bits of the rat’s thigh
a dog gnawing a bone
*
Earth yields dandelion
yields lemon trees moisture
and nutrients
a flow of hormonal forces
amorous the greedy seed
craving licking nectar milk mucus
rhythmic the ecstasy
carnal/spiritual
leaves and limbs
s p r e a d i n g
u n d u l a t i n g
on multiple screens
digital images the body
of the tapeworm
folding folding into itself
undulating
s e g m e n t i n g
blowing kisses along
the digestive tract folding
folding into itself
u n d u l a t i n g
s e g m e n t i n g
Earth Air Fire Water
*
An outline shapes itself
playful the unborn babe in its
amniotic sac
carnal/spiritual
*
Morning to evening
evening to morning under
the mask
a smell of decay
eye scape ear scape
r u i n s c a p e
*
Your bulbous tongue
hangs like a drape over your lip
the pulsating fissures
rapidly zigzagging
zigzagging fire ants etch
maps of wrath and anguish
a c r o s s
your martyred
blood-packed tongue
*
End to end a c r o s s
the triumphant twenty-first
century
out of the digital age
through the gaps of
your fingers the mute eyewitness
sees hanging in the sky
the skeleton of a horse
appear disappear
eye scape ear scape
r u i n s c a p e
*
“O Maggie you wrecked my bed
then kicked me in the head”
the love of logic
the logic of love I must not
jump the gun
*
A laboratory technician
draws a circular mark passing
her hands measuring
counting dividing
numbering the bones
skull neck spinal column
yellow the bones
laid out like stage props
one for the cat chasing
a rat one for the dog gnawing
a bone
*
The universe contains
everything that exists — biomorphic
geomorphic polymorphic
Earth Air Fire Water
the universe contracts
e x p a n d s
every day bears the data
disease famine torture war
*
It is at dusk when
through the gaps of your fingers
you see peculiar forms
when an outline shapes itself
appears
d i s a p p e a r s
the stump of a tree splits
vertical/horizontal
it is at dusk when
through the gaps of your fingers
an old woman on horseback
appears d i s a p p e a r s
when through the gaps
of your fingers the mute eye witness
sees hanging in the sky
the skeleton of a horse
appear d i s a p p e a r
*
Evoking the rhythm of
rhythm of spontaneous changes
dead cells
clothe and feed the flies
totem and taboo totem
and taboo work is a binding
obligation
blood in blood out
*
Rays of solar light pass
through the dome of your skull
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
flashes of solar light
illuminate prehistoric forests
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
rays of solar light
pass through layers of water
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
rays of solar light
pass through a barley plant
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
beams of solar light
penetrate volcanos glaciers deserts
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
rays of solar light
spiral into a mushroom cloud
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe and feed the flies
beams of solar light
break down concrete walls
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
rays of solar light
burn through plastic particles
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
flashes of solar light
split the sea of plastic particles
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
beams of solar light
snake dance into plastic particles
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
beams of solar light
break up dwarf storms of plastic particles
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
flashes of solar light
spiral through plastic particles
rows of cadavers
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
rays of solar light
pass through volcanic hills
illuminate a single
blood-stained feather
when every dawn
each day dead cells clothe
and feed the flies
*
Out of the scientific
explosive realm the triumphant
twenty-first century
out of the digital age
every day bears the data
black letters spell
r u i n s c a p e
AUTHOR’S NOTE. In this poem I embrace the title “Our Ruinscape” with the joy of creating a bleak eye-space ear-space in which biodiversity, movement, competition, interaction, infector, infected, prey and predator — snake dance onto the white page.
Reverberations yes …
Poems and poetics