Thursday, September 25, 2008

the unhorsing of gilbert

dedicated to gona

i.

he fails.

he becomes a real person.


ii.

no more soft night

do you
know someone
who is strong
and invincible?


iii.

every time
you laugh when
you are angry
you become crueler.


iv.

everything is larger


v.

the face in the mirror
who is he?

is he me?

is he you?

i have seen his face
all my life.


vi.

in the bruised
flesh deep down
is the blood &

more testimonies
are
moving unsung


vii.

O flesh

O brain

O body


viii.

as i walked
i thought i saw
a ghost inside the dark
reflections of a
blank window

a car sped up
the street
its headlamps
illuminating me
and making my dark
silhouette
quite sinister


viii.

a good lesson
(one that lasts)

it can take
a long time.

there are no
excuses

for something

that will last.


ix.

dogs lay
in the road &
try to lick the moon


x.

do you miss home?


xi.

can you remember everything?


xii.

at night there are
dark horses everywhere

in the sky
in the house outside in
the trees

looking out
looking in


xiii.

this night i think:

in chinatown it snowed
and everybody came out
to look at such fine small particles
falling indifferently
roof to roof
street to street

the snowflakes formed a thin
thin crust

the snowflakes
dusted red and white puffs of paper
from the exploded firecrackers
of the lunar new year


ixv.

why are we all gilbert?


xv.

the dog
he types

it is a good poem

woof woof

woof woof

woof woof


xvi.

i got mugged
in broad daylight.

the mugger made it look
as if
we were shaking
hands.


xvii.

heart

what
new


-----

I published "the unhorsing of gilbert" in 1992, the work being a series of poems that would pop up in my head, revolving around a central theme, all by themselves. In the writing of this, occasionally I almost drove off the road. When I was done, I had a sweet little pocket-book of poetry that I gave to my freinds. On the cover is a medieval illustration of Lord Gilbert Reginald Falworth being knocked off his horse at a joust in England in the 1400s, thus the name of the collection.

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