these that climb and stretch out neither timid nor brave into the windshaken world whose purpose is hidden like ours from themselves who move relentlessly towards it fibres of darkness feed their suffering, sun and rain make them grow and give
these that are firm flames of a great inner light or temple bells ringing to the suns song these that are a surprise even to the leaves thse who open temselves without hope or promise whose dreams are of the one thing and the dark root and the swirling sky
the broken wind hangs round the dogrose the foxglove loved by humble bees the naked autumn crocus bearing golden stigma these who are nothing but a sensitive sex
put the log on the emb ers they were almost cold the log was damp there was a poss ibil ity of defeat the scar cest prom ise of burning until much later [& then how bright
";
str03= "a composition
involving mated ducks their attendant ripples merged in one circle spreading to include a sharp shard of blue polythene a few fables swiftly fading from a newspaper and one small oil drum absolutely yellow basking on its side more brilliant than the sun than anything at all on this afternoon walking in the shadow of itself beneath the ponderous oaks sad elms and nervous candletrees
";
str04= "what wasn't learnt at oued lau
when the guards were watching me with their long rifles i was not disturbed lying back at evening bundled in blankets watching them watching me
todas pasar, one said as he spat out his sipsie, hombre amigo
lying staring at the ceiling the slight contours of the walls the small window shuttered above my head the door or just anywhere at all with the slow rhythms of the sea the violent surge of the downstairs cafe fascinating my breathing
by day i would stand at the bare arch watching the sea the boats a donkey collecting shingle, gendarme on the road, soldier at my side no news no charge no way to get away: waiting waiting almost forgotten to myself
cold breeze over the delta inspecting every cranny, higher than sorrow
now sitting in a soft room harrowed by her absence i cannot wait an hour, much less a week she will not come, there are strange frontiers between us & this man behind me has my passport & now begins the next interrogation
";
str05= "fawn & ice age
sunset she leaps to view the decayed landscape
canters uncertainly out of her door; curious nuzzling the cold the sudden evening pathways.
stiff pools of streetlight a brittle moon. i rustle
in the warm undergrowth so fine a distance from the frozen desert.
";
str06= "the whole universe ..
the whole universe eats & excretes the american indians believed that we all living things were incurring debts in eating mothercorn brother & sister animals finally tendering repayment with our own corpse
i look upon my falling hairs nail trimmings & especially my turds as being interest daily grown upon this loan of flesh & bone
";
str07= "after contention
after contention walking the windy streets one a.m.
dogs fucking at the crossroads, canning and bedford streets
frothy breath harsh vortex of excertion the stars spinning
then done they stand side by side not speaking
not looking at each other: listening to the wild of the night
staring down seperate roads
";
str08= "a man, a cloaked man
a man, a cloaked man with a hacksaw has entered night
sharp drops of laughter congeal upon his chin
in a burrow beneath the lead and debris we stifle our nervous ears chant rituals of insurance against our other selves
in a burrow, day is just as dark. the sawing continues. even the sound leaves jagged notches running sores
";
str09= "detective story
every case that's closed is a mystery that wasn't
leaving behind a clue to further search a longing for the permanent solution
& yet i know it will be so simple
that when it is discovered it will shatter into mysteries
";
str10= "on the shore
because she will not warm to me i would put my arms around her
between the iceair of love and the heart's dark heat: here without any
hope larger than mere presence i skim a pebble on the water:
the fire circle the burning moment i cannot tell which face will turn
leaf of mouth pebble of eyelid stilled loch white house
on the far shore so many days spent searching for a boat
";
str11= "eyrie
take my heart, child once it lay with your father now it covers you & when you are gone it will not fit back in me it is moulded to your pain
take my heart, child here in this place of wind & stone from carrion memories i am growing a new one of blood & feathers
";
str12= "future blues
her once soft now hard & grimy hand grips me in a fever far from love beyond the rubble & the slimy pools an everyday dryingup trickle of strangers is scuffling the grey sad dust:
minds emptied by swollen thought bellies swollen by emptiness
";
str13= "between two seas
near algeciras the tide runs high into concrete bunkers, tarry coves; gibralter's lights and burning driftwood gibber higher are mars and venus hardbright no moon in seven days
near algeciras the tide comes high bearing foul gifts
the stars are never in the same place twice in all eternity, but some things stay timeless: sorrow like water, foolish gods, and that the courageous will discover their demons
the sea laughs with me, gnawing the beach
";
str14= "gone
the small bird startled by the barking dog
the rising sun licked her feathers & made him wild with wonder
o that she would stay and sing he is so hungry for that song
but she was only passing on her way to the firelands & fearful of earth or interuption, flew away
nor sun nor moon nor dark crows at midday will make him forget the empty branch
";
str15= "they all enjoy
they all enjoy compassion & so these angels have renounced their lovers finding it easier to be kind towards more casual bodies and while the young continue their glad experiments those older lie wearily in haunted rooms they have all suffered loves obsessions & lost desire so with a slow sureness they exorcise each other with no feeling but for the caress
";
str16= "white flowers
white flowers & the fevered man
squirms against them, seeing in the saprise of the green decay the
delicate indifference of dust:
wishes them red, to swamp
this aching with a wild dream of tumultuous life. ,br>by silence tormented he twists in tight cirles seeking the safety of passion
";
str17= "lotos eaters
left flames unsheltered
now they have taken their places & begin
all eyes & ears & noses stumbling dry dense chill
quick lungs crashing to the arms mad jigger
only the great orifice steady trembling, swells
bursts open, needful
";
str18= "cold
cold we burnt branches discovering in their veins the living sap of spring. the smoke was funeral thick flames short and viscious and it was not possible to laugh later than the last flicker when the ash, white and tumbled as the snowfields, leered in hunger at our chilling bodies
";
str19= "only while
only while blood is hot is the cause just afterwards it is a different tyranny
treachery & fear of treachery twist our nerves we who fight for balance not for the insoluble dilemma of victory
the women sit staring in the station cafe any one of these might be an insurgent
aching laughter, easy cruelty, seem almost coded in our genes without moving more than the smallest of muscles we have all betrayed someone
the men hide their violence behind the newspapers anyone of these might be looking for a prisoner
to be alive is a slow form of suicide. when the cup was lifted there was a dark sticky stain. look at the circle of blood.
what we dream of overmuch will finally appear not quite how we dreamt it, with a slightly twisted leer
as i move anyone of them may be watching if i go anyone may wait outside the door, demand some identity i cannot give
only fierceness can drive me now what the eye can see, what the hand can grasp ";
str20= "hand to thigh
hand to thigh finger to breast lip to lip & also the subtle gesture of the eyes such small intricacies by crowding ghostly bodies tied to other pasts & futures
& the nets catch their casters
labyrinths of street & stairway faces ghastly in the sodium glare eyes lost moons in jagged orbit lying alone drugged staring at the sharpened candleflame or waking at dawn to unknown women, some of whom are dead.
this lottery the devious conspiracy in which we seek the country of the kind or fight the parasites of love; in which we are also captured, cruel & blind ";
str21= "leaf/insert/side b
a new leaf can be turned over but twists back as it was when pressure is removed.
this leaf is dead. out of hand it will go spinning to the earth
many leaves died to make this leaf
";
str22= "leaf/insert/side b
what secret fortune lies in these lines on this hand so generously stretched do they reveal dark roots?
at the edge of the body where the green bones do not reach nervous fine hairs taste and test the various flesh of wind and sun and rain
the shaft of the spine drives the turning world towards brittle death
view original graphic on calligrammes ";
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text = "" + pun + "";
text += "";
text += "
";
text += "
";
text += "dave calder";
text += " ";
text += pome;
text += "
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text += "";
lomPoem.document.write(text);
lomPoem.focus();
lomPoem.document.close();
var lomPoem="";
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function plucks(sp){
if (sp==01){poem(str01,'flowers',500,360);}
else if (sp==02){poem(str02,'slow',500,260);}
else if (sp==03){poem(str03,'a composition',520,360);}
else if (sp==04){poem(str04,'what wasnt learnt',500,400);}
else if (sp==05){poem(str05,'fawn & ice age',500,390);}
else if (sp==06){poem(str06,'the whole universe',500,360);}
else if (sp==07){poem(str07,'after contention',500,340);}
else if (sp==08){poem(str08,'a cloaked man',500,350);}
else if (sp==09){poem(str09,'detective story ',500,400);}
else if (sp==10){poem(str10,'on the shore',500,360);}
else if (sp==11){poem(str11,'eyrie',480,360);}
else if (sp==12){poem(str12,'a future blues',500,360);}
else if (sp==13){poem(str13,'between two seas',520,440);}
else if (sp==14){poem(str14,'gone',500,420);}
else if (sp==15){poem(str15,'they all enjoy',480,460);}
else if (sp==16){poem(str16,'white flowers',500,400);}
else if (sp==17){poem(str17,'lotos eaters ',540,400);}
else if (sp==18){poem(str18,'cold ',540,400);}
else if (sp==19){poem(str19,'only while ',540,480);}
else if (sp==20){poem(str20,'hand ',540,440);}
else if (sp==21){poem(str21,' ',440,400);}
else if (sp==22){poem(str22,' ',440,400);}
else return;
}