Six hours have passed by without impact. I lean forwards, tracing pictures with my finger on the surface of a pool. Still waters, dark as night. The moon reflected in its depths. Trees wave their hands behind me like mad nuns. Lights in the valley. Towers and bridges. Headlights drifting down long roads.
The night drags [...]
Archive for January, 2007
Clang
Posted in Journal on January 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Montale
Posted in Poems on January 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
A small square mirror
in the palm of her long hand
flashes pure sunlight blindingly
at the streetside cafe where we sit
while waiters move among the tables
only paces from the traffic
and the air is filled with smells:
the stench of car exhaust and garbage
stirred with spices, cooking odours
coffee, perfume, fresh mown hay.
She’s beautiful. She’s glorious.
I’m gazing at her long [...]
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Posted in Head Ballet on January 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
He said, “I want your attention,” and prodded her in the chest. The girl lost her footing and fell backwards. Her head slammed hard against the boards. The man was leaning over her and whispering, so only she could hear, “I want your attention, I want your attention.” Nobody else in the room did or [...]
Roadkill
Posted in Poems on January 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
There is a road behind her face
that’s winding backwards through the darkness
through the years.
At the end of this road
is where she started out from, long ago.
It is a small, specific place
with hardly any people there
and most of them a lot like her.
You’d think that it was pretty rural.
You’d think it was boring
and you wouldn’t like [...]
1. Toxicity
Posted in Ruth Vortex on January 10, 2007 | 1 Comment »
There is no problem. The only problem is that you’re too beautiful and lost and far away. Kidnapped by monsters in a dream, abandoned on a vampire beach, with cold sand sticking to your skin and dawn light seeping through the curtains. Pale, pale blue. Somebody else in bed beside you. You can’t see their [...]
2. Waking Life
Posted in Ruth Vortex on January 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
And this is how the end begins:
Wild horses churning in white water
upside down, with their hooves flailing.
Three old women on their haunches
squatting in a parking lot.
The moon above high buildings
and a city lost in fog.
You are travelling through the white city in a taxi filled with strangers, moving fast, towards an unknown destination. Then you’re [...]
3. Oblivion
Posted in Ruth Vortex on January 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
FALL INTO OBLIVION
INTRICATELY
ON THE FAST TRACK
she said
I SAID, WHAT?
SHE SAID, TURN THE MACHINE ON.
Then her clothes were on the floor. Then mine were.
SHE SAID, DON’T LET ME BE WRONG.
I SAID, YOU’RE NOT WRONG.
SHE SAID, YEAH?
My house today. Warm sunlight, voices from the street, and car doors slammed and peals of laughter. All of it seemed [...]
4. Paperhouse
Posted in Ruth Vortex on January 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
There are so many places to begin. I’ll start from here.
This is a picture of an empty room, with someone sitting on a chair in the middle of it, drawn in a hurry, clumsily, by a gifted child. Scrawled heavily across the top are the ominous or desperate words I WILL OUTLAST THEM ALL. The [...]
5. Excerpts
Posted in Ruth Vortex on January 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
[Transcript A]
This is a song:
IN THE DESERT OF SAINT ANTHONY
IN THE DESERT OF THE SPHINX
IN THE DESERT BY THE SPARKLING
BLUE RED SEA WE LOST OUR GRIP
AND STARTED FALLING
BUT SWIFT DEMONS OF THE AIR
HELD US ALOFT
AND WHISPERED MERCY
IN OUR EAR
(At which point she screams for a good ten seconds and then flings herself at me, [...]
6. Fish Magic
Posted in Ruth Vortex on January 8, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
This is a dream. In the dream you are trying to swim through tides and fields of invisible force. Vast powers, principalities, dominions roam at large beneath a low and trembling sky. Twilight, no stars, streetlights and sulphur haze. Big trucks around a corner, changing gear. Each memory like a hammer blow. Emotions raging violent, [...]
