Café du Firenze

marble is cheaper
than wood and sitting down
is more expensive than eating
we stand by the polished
stone bar
feet on the roof a Roman city
a sand filled city of a brutal past

-
(chorused cafe chatter)
there are voices that pushes the sand
through the glass-blown hole of our time
these voices push us long after they’re dead
instead of resting , instead of fading
they spend eternity having coffee in Firenze
-

outside detailed statues & polished stone
stand
remnants of higher thoughts
in the streets
where they should be
an outdoor display
in public
naked
free

-
(chorus)
nothing occurs contrary to nature
except the impossible, and that never occurs
we won’t ever believe in your fairytale
it’s a coverup, we know what you can’t see
we know what you wont show
-
Michelangelo and Da Vinci are busy, always busy
etching their names into the table
which is impressive in green mable
Da Vinci scratches his out
Michelangelo doesn’t finish his
he’s busy scowling at Raphael
& points out to Collodi how ridiculous Neptune
in his little fountain
looks
Ammanati Ammanato, che bell marmo hair ovi natao
what a fine piece of marble you have ruined, Ammanati

-
(cafe chatter)
there are voices that pushes the sand
it’s surely harmful to make it heresy
to believe what is proven beyond doubt
-

Collodi has a long nose & wants everyone to watch
his marionette show
pinnochio dance
it’s a real little boy


-
(chorused cafe chatter)
you cannot teach man anything
you can only help him find it within himself
is the man a disease or is the disease a man
it’s a coverup and I can’t fake it in the end
-


Machiavelli shows no interest in the wooden boy
he tries to show Galileo how the outcome
holies the means
justifies the act
Galileoo sees a theory full of holes
flat as the one
that broke his back
the dictator is justified as
long as he is wise and just
Galileo spins a globe
your ideas of power is as flat
as an uncarved slab of marble
wisdom is relative to knowledge
how can you tell
if the
Just man is just
a Sophist
or Wise

-
(chorused female chatter)
I’ve never met a man so ignorant
that I could not learn anything from him
time is wasting in the end, doubt is the father
of invention; having coffee in firenze
-

Dante pulls Galileo away from Machiavelli
let’s not have a fight tonight
how about a poem for a telescope
or I’ll take a beer
lets talk of Goddess
Have you heard her name ? I named her Beatrice
Sofia ?
oh yes she could be Sofia or Aphrodite
the pool of Aphrodite
the lost pool
both pairs of eyes turn to the sky
the romantic the inquisitive
eyes
from different poles
the earth moves around the sun
& sometimes we find an eye in the storm

word today

Landmarks go dark the white shelled roof of Sydney went first
no sign of fisherman blackcurrant may help you breathe more easily
millions unplug for earth hour our rivers fish could do with at least an apology
man claims win after ACC church protest you can’t stop Jamie Olivers food revolution no more junk food for nato bases
south Korean warship sinks arrest over poisonous dumplings
three teenagers arrested after police attack Somalian food aid diverted
new nuclear arms treaty new start for US-Russia mini-size me appeals
compensation rules may not apply to David Bain high on thai food
Iraq’s Allawi is open for new coalition talks basil-chilli paste
honesty is the best policy on CV’s deep fried creatures on skewers
Israeli soldiers leave Gaza after fierce clash cut fruit
Minister shocked after tourists point gun at native kereru dried pork
Thailand protesters, the red shirts, try to oust army from streets pale nutty brown
earth hour draws fewer kiwis fresh basil leaves in an Indian bathing bowl
The Vatican strikes can pope resign from office anti pollution masks
the paedophile case snowballs homely style
bomb squad callout in Rotorua noddles and shrimp
Arabs must prepare alternatives for failing peace process long deep green beans
calls for north shore mayor to quit similar yet different
bureaucrats decide to save the bluefin tuna suck on lemon grass
virus threatens parrot Mass a Man are denser
9 alleged militants killed in India star anise and mace
role in death of depressed kiwi denied coriander leaves cum in seeds
anti-hero’s mythical mission kafir lime and its rind
farms open gates to public for a day parcels of chicken
some states find burden in new health care in banana leaves
UN concerned about number of Maoris in jail sour sweet
sunk by global warming ? wave goodbye to the disputed island delicate balance
government has duty to probe trimaran sinking academic made with a light touch
suspected twitter infiltration ‘ I’m a nice hacker’ with complex flavours
nod at the treaty , give some benefit to doubt whether its from the street or restaurants
it gives you a whole new idea

Vacana of Between XIX

det er en jetlag morgen og mørket
er vakkert lover meg at laputas teppe
skal avsløres vi dukker gjennom
den røde rammen av gull slottet
inn i det grå teppet
og finner en meditativ stillhet
hjemlandet glistner i frostpusten
som bet av meg fingre og albuet meg
i lungene forrige gang
3 spiral trapper siden
3 krystallveier
3 gudinnebasseng
hun er ved min side nå afrodite
sofias nye geometri er tegnet i hennes øyne
og jeg er dets refleksjon
som skinner gjennom her under
laputas teppe
vår jord - jeg mener bakken - snø dekt
kald og frisk er hennes pust denne gangen
en sterk kontrast til den dampe varmen
av en betong jungel, et stoppested som brant vår hud
mellom opp og ned
mellom hjem og hjem
nomaden har fått tilbake sine bein
lagt sine røtter i Singapor med nye fotspor
en ny veil til the hule gamle treet
som vi nå skal finne tilbake til
gjemt under den grønne billens slør
et sted i Porsgrunn ?
som Philemons hytte eller Mikromegas' leilighet
flyter det rundt i blinde punkt
og venter til sløret lettes
or det gamle treet finner meg

I can't see be
y
ond
pond erin g
the carved shape of the new piece
of a puzzle i've been working on
the genome blocks
i'm trying to figure out how the angle works
to cut into a fourth dimension of space
or rather to see its shape , to not neglect that form
as it is there and i can feel it and it soothes now
as opposed to jarring against the soft flesh as it has
until she was there and you might think
i am alluding to some sort of fate
but that would be using your well chewed and masticated
pulps of western words
these words are of ideas which not even eastern
or northern or southern words can express
so it floats the green beetle irridescent
with corrosion formed by erosion into a mozaic
of a ad quadratum geometry
covering over whatever metallic sheen it once had
as a cocoon
which will lead the hollow tree of old roots
back to our attention
so we can yet again touch its bark and sit inside it
counting its rings and hearing the whispers of its stories
which has been spun in our absence
affected by our butterfly flaps on the oar of an aoteroan
canoe dug out from swamp rimu

det er sommerfugler i hjernelapper som
kiler mens de slikker av nektar
som jeg ikker sikker på om jeg trenger til noe annet
kom kramper seg litt og stikker litt i kulden
men det er likevel varmt her det er nok bare
mit paranoide skygge land som hvisker
om torner or blod og tenner og kroniske grep
de har løsnet nå mot full sirkel
som egentlig bare er et vendepunkt i spiralens gang
et endepunkt av en global nomades evig vinter
3 år siden sist han så vinter
men aldri har det varmet som nå
i en antiromantisks neoromantisk blikk

her meshy bosom is still there
as metal monkey , by fire horse, next to wooden ox
finally can stand to look at her
it's still there but its naked form seems beautiful
in this global light

Vacana ov Between XVIII

vacana of between XVIII

So here, I was not particularly thinking of the self as overrun by advertising (Made in Taiwan) or even a fluid or socially constructed entity. I was interested in how I could NOT think about the self except as a kind of evolutionary writing/text production (i.e. a subjectless process) linked to specific technological affordances and constraints, i.e. the self as, rather simply, part of an environment that is pull not push, to cite the Toyota Production System.

Tan Lin

quote ? quotation marks? source information? is this ok ?


right wrist broken
each line is a struggle
I had plucked feathers from the nomad
pheasant, female – brown and black, white tip
cut ; undipped
to calligraphy her eyes into the sky

I have to wait 28 days before I can write again

so Obama had stern words of love for Africa
welcomed as their president – with global feet
settled with a global name ; what follows
global law. I thought they called that colonies;
Iraq, Israel, Afhganistan, or will they be part of the union
as independent states
He stabbed her seventeen times,
all over the body, smiles as he talks of her
fix your face the smile is always there through it all
didn’t see the salt in his wounds and you know that you gave
that you took , that you crave
it’s what you wanted in the end was it NOT just a need
for the flame and the wake, rush on you feet, we know
everything, for the love that we gave, Sofist we’ll make
you follow what you want in our name, as we write
the steps for you to take. product of a written text,
entirety shapes the moving global soma

in symbols lies the add-infinitum history/cycles
of the Green Men we were
I was
Ayaam

sp I rit of Be tweihn (ai)

Vacana of Between XVII

good quality

elements

seem harder to come

by in our

consumer

society

Rimu dug out of a swamp, now Tokotoko

now walking/talking

stick

i would have referred to it as a cane in paler days

dug out

of a swamp

carved into your

hands

The Russian Nomad went to Peru

wearing only a backpack

and a handfull of dictionary words

to explore ancient ruins

and see between the words

instead of a ruin, where the blank was uncharted

outdated

a small village greeted him

following the trails of a river

the coded words are still hiding

bloodied after climbing

the smooth rock of ravines

the night was warm

chewing cocoa leaves

and sucking sugar canes

with the locals

Vacana of between XVI

The
siamese carries
news of bunnies

and Ahmadinejad
seems to rock

foundations

the democratic system
was meant
to

divide and conquer
against Khamenei,
Mousavi

they choose the
ride, steed
goes

global voice
save the green

dove

not white this
time around
it

covers up the
red and
yellow

leaves which had
been eaten
by

the bunny dead
in my
garden

they breed them
in the
house

behind
the fence
they sell pets
an
alpaca looks
over the barrier

my

their

hands are

bloody but

clean in the

bright open eyes

Matariki with the Eyes of the Valkyries