α The Hollow Way in the Dark Wold


A The Symbolic and the Veil of Maia

1 A Talisman
We are named by all the things we will never understand, LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka)

A JOLLY GATHERING ON NEW YEAR'S DAY

Ah! Those dreams of freedom:
ah! The perfect party, every
one, you know, so much, so like
the perfect poem & a harmony

not slept on
but undreamt or drunk
this one begins an old
itch bubbling up

of amateur musicianship, lovers
of the art, dear children
& their children's friends: Old
Blind Pugh, Long John, the

sudden chase & a silence.
We play on. The sun sets.
Just strangers can be so friendly.
Oh you work in publishing too?

Anna wants to go. The ducks
& then the long slide & the short one.
It's dark. Let's have tea. The party
breaks up. This poem ends.