The world and its streets, places

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BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY OBHBBBBi

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ALSO BY LARRY EIGNER

Poems (1941) From the Sustaining Air (1953) Look At the Park (1958) On My Eyes (1960) The Music, the Rooms (1965) Six Poems (1967) Another Time In Fragments (1967) The-/Towards Autumn (1967) Air the Trees (1968) The Breath of Once Live Things In the Field With Poe (1968) A Line That May Be Cut (1968) Clouding (1968) Flat and Round (1969) Farther North (1969) Valleys Branches (1969) Selected Poems (1972) Words Touching Ground Under (1972) What You Hear (1972) Shape Shadow Elements Move (1973) Earth Birds (1973) Things Stirring Together Or Far Away (1974) Anything on Its Side (1974)

THE WORLD AND

ITS S TREETS, PLACES

LARRY EIGNER

I

jgHMSia

uJfad Black Sparrow Press - Santa Barbara - 1977

THE WORLD

&

ITS STREETS, PLACES.

Copyright © 1977 by Larry Eigner.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Black Sparrow Press, P.O. Box 3993, Santa Barbara, CA 93105.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thanks for previous airings to the following magazines: Ann Aiboi Review, Aldebamn Review, Athanoi, Boss, Caterpillar, Coyote’s Journal, The Desert Review, Earth, El Como Emplumado, Damascus Road, Elizabeth, Friendly Local Press, From A Window, Global Tapestry, Lampeter Muse, Love Letter, Intrepid, It, Mica, Maelstrom, Maps, Nomad, Noose, Magazine, Man Root, Origin, Or, 121, Potpourri, Pogomoggan, Salted Feathers, Satis, Sumac, The, The Outsider, This, Tish, The Sparrow, Tolar Creek Syndicate, The University of Tampa Poetry Review, Work, Win, Zahir. Thanks also to the publishers of these anthologies: Inside Outer Space (Doubleday/Anchor), New Folder (Folder Editions), Neue Amerikanische Lyrik (Carl Hanser Verlag), My Music Bent (The Elizabeth Press); and to a press edition which in 1975 issued "around new/ sound daily/means"—a 12-1/2 minute tape of Eigner reading 27 original pieces, including "time flies", and a booklet of the pieces to go with it; and to the proprietors of Black Ace Books in Denver, in whose catalog "Apocalypse" appeared.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA Eigner, Larry, 1927The world & its streets, places. I. Title. PS3509.I47W6 811'.5'4 77-8974 ISBN 0-87685-268-1 (trade paper edition) ISBN 0-87685-269-X (cloth signed edition)

TABLE

OF

CONTENTS

“ominous ..." “other earth now ..." “boy and girl . . “such screechings of brakes ..." “trees green ..." “leaves ..." “birds . . “a finger ..." “bedsheet ..." “time flies . . “will acid rest ..." “obscure poems . . “synaesthesia proprioception . . “increase the bombing . . “In their own wreaths ..." “why should there be death ..." “in all the smog . . “cross-roads of China ..." “the wind's tune . . (to recognize worldwide stateofnature) Windy side of the house “the philosophy of risk . . “Furniture Store . . “A bird from somewhere ..." “now quiet . . “In a corner . . “a stretch of light . . “with enough breeze ..." “all wrapped up . . “you dedicate ..." “heirlooms . . “not raining ..." “on the face of . .

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 29 30 animal 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45

"the figures ..." "not bookworm but . . ." "the wind ..." "dandelions ..." "The great heat of the day ..." "busy speech ..." "footsteps . . ." vacuum ... "walking ..." "earth air ..." "squirrels and birds . . ." the whole round of "the sound ..." "his life ..." "the leaves in space ..." MADNESS! "the world ..." "birds the warmest blood ..." "Let George Do It . . ." "skunk smell . . ." "the red checker cab ..." "the fly ..." "the smell of a blanket ..." "the birds sing ..." "how much sat hard ..." "What's a tree . . ." "3 p.m. . . ." "wrapped up . . ." "Apocalypse . . ." "(View one night . . ." "nights ..." "perfectly well and safe ..." "Let time . . ." "how it comes about . . ." "stones of the driveway ..." "walking the hill ..." "damp wind ..." sequoia "the grown strange ..." a

ff

earth

46 47 48 49 50 51 52 CO 53 55 56 58 59 61 62 64 65 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 82 83 84 85 87 88 89 90 91

“pipe dream ..." “to broadcast silence ..." “time passes . . “the crickets . . “it's a strange past ..." “steam from the rim . . Depth ALTERNATIONS OF INFINITE BIRDS “a baby's first snow ..." cress . . . “the steep town . . “the moon traveling . . “the way the light ..." “noise absorbed . . “out of . . “the sunrise ..." “In the raw . . “the neat life ..." THE LIGHTS GO OUT open air where “memory of sound . . “out of the branch . . “plant animal . . Muir Woods Wholes “open life ..." “two, four mirrors . . “the jarring firecracker . . you know where you're // • l swivel . . . “the pastorale . . “What do we leave behind . • Brotherly Love “a puddle . . “the icicle . . “random mind of a child . . “protective coloration . . Danger In That, Too u

tr

tt

tf

•

tr

•

a girder . . .

going?

93 94 97 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 128 130 131 133 135 136 137 138 139 140

unveiling "the radio ..." "those crooked houses . . ." "wings song . . ." pound desert "Time goes where ..." IT'S ALL OVER the unreal "all these cripples ..." "birds birds . . ." "sunshine ..." "goodness ..." "one light on . . ." "a temporary language ..." "the way you go . . ." "the phonepole . . ." "moving . . ." "powerful husbands ..." "what about new-born . . ." "they keep changing ..." "Looks like ..." "the rain and the stars ..." "Let's see what happens ..." "home . . ." "sea smells ..." "so the fine green arm ..." "what a uniform is . . ." "The only difficulties ..." Lamplight "peace peace ..." "Quiet grass . . ." Heat

141 142 143 145 146 147 149 150 151 153 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 172 173 175 177 178 179 180

THE WORLD & ITS STREETS, PLACES

They

bounced

a

ball

they

raked

leaves

statement

on

words

Amid increasingly palpable news rather than rumor of scarcities (to be hugely euphemistic about it), abundant moments in various places persist and keep on in high or ultra high frequency, and a poem can be assay(s) of things come upon, can be a stretch of thinking.

ominous sinister the rain smiles

11

other earth now small one imagined tides illusion of ease

from

improved communications

12

boy and girl joined up again past the smoking trashcan waists

each other

controlled fires 2 long containers jammed in none too fast NOW the man who's come out the back of the one-room store in the parking-lot lower jets and trails blacker

13

and

such screechings of brakes what was it a mile away maybe thick of the night from home how long was it with us? beauty shop groceries blanks sales lots get your ticks do-nuts dentist offices edge tools table supplies work work work

14

trees green

the quiet sun

shed metal truck in the next street passing the white house you listen onwards you heard the dog through

per formed circles

the roads near the beach rectangular rough lines of the woods tall growth

echoing

local water

15

leaves a mask puddles street signs the branches in the eyes sparrows how far

16

birds take further in the air the tree's shape

a highway on the moon in the imagination

apple where the sea-wall curves will you look at that that's equipment

the wild apple

a coast

picking up rocks and dancing in and out

how

the game was

waves from the wind wings the moon's street street

17

a finger wet in the wind clouds are driven through ahead changing figure fragments

distances

18

slides

bedsheet on a line under a tree backyard ragged space reaching above houses wires

flattening clouds

19

time flies birds in odd corners

20

will acid rest improved eyes birds through sets of spelling What a day now the fog turns comfortable the sun rounding outside what

dreams may come what

may we have wanted

at times to ask age of this tree

21

obscure poems roll me out

(for Ron Caplan)

the ladder against the wall i have acquired useless knowledge there again what's a cosine puzzling how answer figure changes things move it works it might be anything paint's in the sky silent brick grows

22

synaesthesia

sight-seeing the moon tourists the eyes are more than the lung

23

proprioception

increase the bombing along the way quite a cigar the lights to burn when dusk comes on the wires underground where the water seeps miraculous the distance what speeds should we take clouds there horseback riding it reads horses and people

24

In their own wreaths people to sleep to walk to run towards how to recycle what's considered what's been

puffing the psychic crutch blue day

a child confers normal everything who sees

25

why should there be death over that hill how bodily do you travel years maybe without a scratch on a finger

26

in all the smog instruments of the stars spring rites hard and soft he asked for music how game is the work on Palomar so clear the 6th pastoral a certain hook-up powerful can produce noise prior to ordering

/ map

from somewhere else “radio disc" dancing yourself to death wait they serve, also a body veers, wavers light makes straight heart relatively

27

eyes matter forbidden lines what dust is you re'turn song unwanted

contaminant

you won't feel it you stride make crooked the wise

28

cross-roads of China towns

valleys

the walled places rivers conditions defense the moon a field waves of tribes thought when it comes new

the form

Siberian dawn a land's size vague the whole sky a cloud sometimes actually the ground burned away by the sun farm country

a rooster crows

29

the wind's tune how constructed things are the instrument now we know

listen light comes through it and water shakes clouds

rain down trees

30

fog

only the thought renews it touching a distance we shall overcome the sunset leaves are borne by branches make all ways sunlight or moonlight nothing the motionless (to

recognize

charge

the strip of sun

through the stars from east to west types of water

worldwide

animal

silent

in places or time is not strained from a faucet underground

state

neither sound

is towards the horizon of

nature)

birds singing time of day a bush but then on the wing they cry eager enough to use our eyes in love

31

a far blue wall or tangent no billboards in the sky, we may walk the limits of jobs, not too much listening,

sing

somewhat, learn what to do with ourselves

32

Windy

side

of

the

house

opposite leaves shaking some scintillation in the grass maybe ice where a blade might be strong right near a patch of snow a dog appears to wander on in the fitful air

33

i

the philosophy of risk can breed indifference firehose vandals students firebuffs exhaust the silent ladders waterbugs

34

Furniture Store you may not guess about love that's just as well when you think of it

35

A bird from somewhere The wind rouses the tree there is only green in the sunlight up and down nothing sound ends

36

now quiet the quiet the day has moved where it may be differently taken only the sound in producing heat quiet a certain speed track past limit air reduction of itself here silent brink of dawn a slim line for a while

37

In a corner of my window when I lean over the moon going away

38

a stretch of light makes the sky water above trees by the sea

39

with enough breeze the sea echo of night more gulls the sun caught above the trees robins singing adjacent parts

40

all wrapped up in herself everyone was she got it singing emission breath the box of shadows minute to minute through the whole world the beasts return one beast pride has dissolved in who recognizes the shadow gives way they proliferate wrapping life visions knock your block off pulp stars in your head no harm to anybody

41

you dedicate to the dead no, the memory of it's pulling together death out of our number the variety of real and unreal things

42

heirlooms in the space age possibly

white paper

the tree's upward branches like a cone broodings what lines cast shadows airy birds fly around inside of us and the small tree

43

not raining, just the leaves in the trees that's like asking for it clouds darken with night on the ground slightly it's form after all birds sounds like it's the woods like only moments renew themselves an old man can have no years a big rain pours some leaves out of the trees

44

on the face of you think isnt the time as there just the news comes late what appears so nothing too great enough distance should the essence formless, be (in the diffuse) our future

45

the figures,

lines

the hidden roots and rivers of the under turn up beyond cables and offices cutting the air, stream thin space the sides shown the ghostly tongues of water finer edged than the mud flats flowering into your streets palpable times, the snarl oneness, legumes of ripped loam, swirling, proliferant planes, impressions, headlong to zero a light mouth an open bay

46

not bookworm but bending over the paper as he walks, as if finding good news s

close up the distance is not sensational at that this man of habits partially, doesn't have to be as old as he is years of these sunsets he keeps on anyhow of cloud in the sky

degrees

it fades,and has an edge

47

the wind cool the force of it after a hot day takes me up behind the window

48

dandelions in the air the dog expectant across the street lies down faces huge the views of cloud land

49

The great heat of the day only sun shine some planes loud night up in the air stars

the distance earth keeps on weight lawns tapped by streets mowers up-ended

birds wandering trees face down a squirrel haltered comet no branch a waste another moment business you don't hear him no ice is lodged beyond the air the sea streaked off the coasting moon the sun spins earth

50

busy speech no more my line but i saw how intense again was a bird

making a short trip

just this afternoon

51

footsteps like the rain i was too late to see a thing

52

vacuum heads in so much sun moist

there's the wind where

the leaves and shadows are golden widespread echo that plane now steady no but going around burning far certain places a low bird

right

rears up the light in front of a tree-trunk instants the small tree the knife-grinder people saying something or other what a woman of cloth twenty-five bucks

53

through the window change a man with a loaf some bread

54

walking the idea of dancing time making room

55

earth

air a grave

water is more than land

(for Keith Wilson)

the exotic,

strange

step such light traps the moon shadows bullets

whales' music around the world

dream

the sea

make, man breath felt find the speeds

56

living slow and the steady wind

57

squirrels and birds the open lawn thunder, but mostly rain

58

the

whole

round

of

earth

overlooking your

own

back

yard

abstract a geometrical rock in the various the sea dripping mobile at ( Philip Whalen's Voyages a Transpacific Journal )

the sides faces to the towering skies fish and land creatures ships symmetry the sun up and down light spread stars rain or a moon band the silent clouds a shape to cleave the waves any size you can imagine and made parts inside are crowds

59

flatter and flatter holed distance arms of a tree

60

the sound behind walls a plane sweeping the horizon wherever it's going what ways the streets are

what rabble

cries

fish on the landing

it makes its own wind on the fields dirt blows hills waters the level forces

61

his life the open window where the clock sounds fade what is it? branches out there can you stop the war crickets

stars

no birds sing

the more air in the leaves

Get up and speak something

whatever it is wilds

now

now

children are within you guts are outside red sky meant wind as is a hole to turn out of this year on year the grass

62

around

wave after wave the snow there are no wormy men

63

the leaves in space flying quick for shadows the wind

64

MADNESS!

n

*

You come back again and again 600 years in the age of flight steel London bridge replaced air destruction to pain vines it takes forces you see in to build for the sake clean sounding planks a moment peaceful again part of the world,still, wild aroused, millions of the birds there are without memory the rail crash, disaster, no, it , cars rumbling off ah, the natural way to fall the bridge at the time comes on down into the bay-like water how they make it look, as it looks hold the plants the morning empty of steam, in the action until the stubbed deranged engine hiss hisses without going the live killer could be let drop

on the River Kwai

65

anybody goose-step , in a second

stride no memory men do the work

and amble the certain bridges

66

the world cannot be divided a simple matter heat /

so the road smells

give some attention change

67

birds the warmest blood in the world keeps hopping powerful breath a ground target while brooding the positions man's growth precarious birth to soar in the mind so big to the earth whole active

parting wake

all the dimensions a great head

68

of

Let George Do It Jan Palach far away D A Levy suicidal Phan Thi Mai you disappear in a brief light the hurt of the sun keeps going so much earth mirrors confuse the mind

69

skunk smell what did he do today, in the past?

a plane subsides from here in the night

the green earth oxygen

70

the red checker cab blue car the other way wheels audible

rooms

under the siren there was the truck

71

the fly , such a big one green-elbowed island inside the clouds spread a sea air there s a wet wind moving the tree

72

the smell of a blanket how like how different when you were a child those years planes cross going places

73

the birds sing waterpipes sections, huge sides of the road

74

how much sat hard standard shape close grown loud

the

clearer may be better?

number

is flats edge away from machines parts of the sky measured changeling focus sound as of wind nowhere see there's more to distance

75

What's a tree to a bird branches at least twigs air footholds the sun comes green angles ahead

76

3 p.m.

flag waving signs fire-escape shadows dust flown basket bull's-eye bounce

77

brick

the tall

wrapped up horizon chasing the tail

how

far is the mystery

what

awareness in sleep you eating the earth it depends on your eyes round and round the sun comes all the time

78

Apocalypse present to how many past how much already lain down

79

(View one night What the hell am I doing with this girl Royal Shakespeare redgrave mouthwash for lovers twice among commercials not a photograph as you like it Orlando and a 2nd son turns up out of all whooping across the miles the malancholy of the ad went ur ous

80

woods the moon's a fine (and narrow) place

81

nights the spectrum of goods lights hauls fast or it's haphazard ground the earth known was a process slow like stars burn a good while

bulldoze clear floors some of the land to the wind a car on its shadow passes far out

a lot you carry boards across bends

82

perfectly well and safe on the sea waves various fields the shifts outside which no time little by little is composite with a 2-dimensional space the cut-down tree

built

walls round a circle the distance you figure it out how the blood flows clouds looked like a shore on the water

calcium gets away but for gravity

83

Let time go on by as the bird might say in the sun silent which tips the aerial like ice motionless wings

84

how it comes about on me the many pieces as ever time the rain the visiting nurse crosses the street again back drives her car off and the next patient elm drinks straight from cloud we had murky weather in the early movie last night the wind through the glass passes by ooh the twigs river asphalt cloudburst dark bent over

85

what it does sight buoys up which currents

of arms

she stops for lunch the world's sharp bead curtains

86

stones of the driveway the parallel view pebble

the clanging shore

combers ripples

to bared distance

wheelrut there where the car turned murderous civilization incomplete seconds journey as wings

87

walking the hill the lamps vertical higher and higher spread clouds in dark ness the sea air forgotten the moon burst the sky

88

damp wind the birds chorusing clouds moving the sky the haze blast the foghorn through the trees

89

sequoia any kind of speed is 2,000-year roots the long earth any time a leaf flies down the sun fixes the mist

90

the grown strange running to childhood as children to men backwards to the next mountain sorrowful thought the instantaneous can't pass the horizon the stick its shadow the stone as history is a trap nightmare the door fallen in on a revelation of blood the clock shaken from the wall lifetimes of wind the burning insides of cold light the close bush throws out shadow clouds may seem to come from branches gnarled far connection clear forest gypsy hordes the imagination the sun comes through

91

rain the extent of woods a moment of silence children striped smelling the field, freedom the clouds lower effortless continuums resumed the movement in the distance Ravel's fountain keeps the limits of air or the Trout a change of wing floors the earth General Khanh in his shirtsleeves or the ecological position of the woman in The Scarlet Letter a tree cities are enough riding space without wheels again and again,the news going,hour after hour the clock a vast eye

92

pipe dream plane a clock the distance level built up between us in the air glassy

stone

eyes the wind

hiss knock heat goes off

93

to broadcast silence like the sky heat knocks on the night the sun blaze of frost the world through the window land slides the mingling of cloud gouges hills frame

80° below a plane hugging the Rockies the bowl of roses among other things oars plunged are in bones intent deep echo makes it the outdoors a dog lapping a puddle waves are plenty of water reflection some birds broken that's a piece of time

94

repeat given tongue a gun but if tape the

audience sounds

intermission would violate knowledge the fuel in the tanks wiring level slosh horizons of simulation acts see

nice lips

words on paper trees ah, the movies man oeuvering legs at Og or how space different continuous a hand is branches and the nests in them

95

zones

the open air is how much distance the gutter woodwork fresh stars an egg a pond a tadpole steps from and warm blood the mother returns to twigs in the light air wet or otherwise all one as it is still shape as an eye

96

time passes reasons are not carried in the hold destroyed by the action furious killed your mother who do you eat after sacrifice to launch forth the certain journey a success, sack, pillage in the night long way long time message by firelight Cassandra arrives as approaching the mirror growing what shape it has of a seacoast I think an act allowing itself, grabs me in I have lungs from the eyes Justice, a root into the house from beyond the horizon will o' the wisp the King's daughter and the son

97

as dawn streams against such lamps spread earth wrecks and ships unscathed their possible thoughts ( of each other a red carpet where is the hour both parties might be all right Electra enslaved the seen passes away which is your blood? the old men a confusion as of the sea roots me to the spot the air piercing, screams be moderate how many children you have all crimes appear equal some moment the idea of payment goes far back

98

the crickets fill the night when the wind leaves emptiness i picture outside, the stars, in my mind's eye

99

it's a strange past how dead is one man and after another you approach the blind grown present familiar behind eye the self a project future imaged as animal life is balls against walls

100

steam from the rim of a plate for easy eyes the spent fire the sun shines on clouds or it keeps raining today lakes, rivers and seas awareness of fractions

101

Depth

a tree inches

felt distance

a phonepole the sky slants Leaves crying death, death, the wind in the sun rises

102

ALTERNATIONS OF INFINITE BIRDS the sun changes, here in slowness perceptible winter when some side on the ground and some do not know, silence which may be summer, winds the fine clocks become useless in the world,

profuse,

the green

to burn up alive night stones, the moody glaze, and not catch sunrise even in winter bound the road patient forms the seasons have tried and earth varied by the drunk rain

103

a baby's first snow carries little idea what it'll be like his rain a warm thing or cold downpour, the sky glassy the field but indistinguishable or how should I remember towering observation even the pigeons and small birds and the gull or eagle had some eyes even the rear of the truck keeping down on the scarred road

104

cress figure ruts in the street battery light Xmas will show this up all night endless, open the sun tilting, like the earth, country glass, and hills, shadow the grown human town exhausts, the busses at a grand canyon shopping center, for Hallowe'en and hot August, almost lost out of its park, level remote edges the cities under all clouds the trucks in the night are blind except for their lights the road is still dark

105

the steep town part through hills split

day season

with a gun the tree shock a lane and the field a hospital efficiently into the air the heat passes and has come again the beating down of the quieting insect no more

towers a prostrate eye terrors may be in the sky night's wet level stalks pressed row of pain a safe high part inside

106

displaces the shambles nice shelving of earth plates the ships of the surface and flags

107

the moon traveling dust, as farther, the road the glamor of sunlight anywhere at the trees become leveled cross-vines of peat moss the bridge giving a jolt over the field the lettered tanks, steady keel company the moon's ray steady or ready it was to be

corrected it is a hill

down by a church, likewise of painted wood, steep sidestreets, an inexorable gutter, variety meats through frenchtown the moon was a real friend crossing branches and eaves the sun had kept to the right

108

the way the light strikes the window you put in the glass the frame up

109

noise absorbed in the air happiness is quiet have fun,

they say

the birds lean on bark and sing to our ears

110

out of no thing, quiet, the air the tree moves

111

the sunrise behind the clock ticking as it goes around

112

In the raw room live Wonder may he feel clean with that matted hair Imagine it grow quiet close to the stars anchored beyond the daylight sky

113

the neat life in the "ideabook" illustrated these things made what food out of buildings goods for green stuff

114

THE LIGHTS GO OUT

Now we are alone with our thoughts but where are they tomorrow I can continue reading

Starlight! candles are a great deal far away in the darkness everywhere grave, settled

early like the flowers we have so far kept the spread of the leaves shaped a long way from sacrifice letting things pass

and

for the flowers no fright flying around in the autumn it's late all kinds of emotion there was

tomorrow will start

115

open

air

where

fire alight in the other window as it reflects the boy pushes the balloon against the cottage and it lights up my mother has moved the furniture around again, an accomplished fact the horizon broken at any points within it and blocked up the windows after taking off curtains, cut narrow, releasing all the upholstery smells, since winter demands its change, ah clothing, after I had seen how branches spread leaves across one tree, glass, the opposite to recession now it is hard times my mother has made herself in the past the kept chairs the cottage is thin, but remains while the cars start up, departing, the drivers again, looking for exercise (for the eyes) (after that friend's house ) and getting killed

116

memory of sound instantaneous patch of landscape how can your little finger bring up dirt ingots hunger the sparrows there for the gulls the sea out on its plain the sun crosses my view

117

out of the branch decided not to take the next tree rest a minute to see through glass the stars and feel like walking because he is a child as erratic, they look like summer or even cold, difference in remove O Bohr the strained picture an exact size rutherford the bent southern Cross a squirrel trace water or falling leaves left paws above how the animal stops in mind action 118

covering legs to never see the tail the field (the tree) closed when the snow comes the gutter stuck with leaves

119

plant

animal

orbits

anemone

one foot on a crab backwards and forwards degrees of time

all what's this

scale growing imperceptible

120

under the redwoods Muir Woods

the ground is rooted in leaves earth on earth dark water flows buried slips out by gravity not alone the planet time passes sun moon and stars various birds places hard streets soft brief shadows light

121

Wholes

For a while a year is a long time as things increase in their number and walls break familiarity comes familiarity of life, which sinks to a level of sorts, space (empty except for the rabbits-hat of things Before crumbling, the walls streak with some tangent of minutes and life takes on a size

122

open life under a roof all these years it's lasted wooden drops of the moon thin cabinet Time too has stopped blinded from the sky (above fields) to walk in frost happiness odd,

always

places

pools floating mirrors building sharp peaks

123

two, four mirrors windows trees a wave beats a wave passes up and down

124

the jarring firecracker the door, the door the sun beats noise dark in the tree a moon the moment is gone

125

you

know

where

you're going?

Life the placid time-bomb how long the other end of the fuse earth coiled up in how backward running brake to re-enter you eat yourself out all ways by the tail

for the Webbs

it's all moving the road taking you away the desert side gardens

and all the flood earth temperature rises towards the boiling point of water with power plants cool lighting and fires or fluorescents could dim Canadian to Australian a comparative distance

126

the earth bends travel's a descent or pulls or a tendency among the stars it gets heavy it grows light feathers are good for clouds and rain streaks the artificial cavern under Denver the poisoned lake the shivering land

127

swivel a figure of two minds chattering legs suddenly on a complete room struck air, the present some law becomes in the line of things they made themselves waking the beach and then touch

hands

away from the blank walls the tremor of waves it's no bird's skirt the other leg tip silence to its level the sea is fading he has carried her bundled pitched downward to hold man who must be moved

128

and she tumbles running

him away

out wide

129

the pastorale symphony the snow is white

white

in the yard sunshine the wTind

sheep

what do the clouds graze in safety as a child feels heedless of indoors positioned

slow

like the aerial

half blown down by the freak blizzard what this place may be unreally cold and wet when the music was conceived

130

What do we leave behind what's crumbled earth

a bird gathering to

nest flight levels of the neighborhood all made points crossed a pear wildly bent whenever some one back yard you can't see moves in this distance are bikes

boarded

or riding quiet through

charm on handles

131

erasure

grips out side

the various open maple leaves chirp

a long way

132

Brotherly

Love

the woman as unhurt no hurt of herself riding an open car around seasons return, which makes time go, a clock is slow, many are fast what of the sun sinking panes to the street dusty air, trees they were concerned haul off the material direct window use of their legs, and cars slashed the redtape of money in knots nothing doing selling my raft of life dizzied sickening cork swallowed for a ship the mess on the decks, the busses are cannibal matter of time a finished product pictures of cloud the spent hurricane

133

glassy hard

how many jobs might be enough, not everything either

134

a puddle wind in the day and night all it takes a single branch to shower down and a few twigs reflections dissolve one center to rough edges walls and to see the sky as unreal the gnarl in the freshened water

135

the icicle the drainpipe flat slow clouds are the far away shining metal and water is a better conductor than air

the icicle the drainpipe flat slow clouds are the far away shining metal and water is a better conductor than air

136

random mind of a child it's a dog's life dream in Oblivion the governor of reflection gestalt concentrate handyness to speak is some resolution a gull standing on the chimney maybe passing wind down the pipe the family unawares size of the bird wings sail, too, in the stream lifted facing it, and take-off twigs undulant alley one gable

137

protective coloration the australian rock naked against the clear sky chasing rabbits their hair blond

138

Danger

In

That,

Too

Time and again, different, the same the houses,

snow or / and the trees

fire signs put at the distance (bricks and slick chimney time one place to another, and the present always is here well a different concern

didn't want to be tired wanted to stay in bed could've been satisfied

birds on a snowbank their shadow on a back wall shrinks in the dawn a tree reaches the sun a balloon the roof grows warm

139

a girder

a building

earth and sky motion clouds you see it look closer

a dark day

dull fires they "roll"their own

take

the corners red bright flame the dead picture something flashed out a cat's paw black as the sea can be star dust burns up what eyes for the spectrum it's enough ours

140

unveiling singling out the dead to remember the life the world of success is complicated the rain let down you we went out into it warm men

women

the danger of the elements from our heads much overcome or dodged not stupid unless there is talk

141

the radio window easy talk on hard birds restrained trees however sleeping as good as all night it's shut off

but

I doubt the window's been closed if

it's a hot night

142

those crooked houses the way

standing

the sky packs clouds, mute like sum

r ice

stream of trees wreathing to the ear a bird in the porch and over the next roof by the least curve tangent as beyond a nest a window edge-piece steepened leaves the clouds were not fast high-flagged visored hulls hurrying a sure place blue

and

now

anything might wait over the line and now a little to the side

143

it's like the zenith that purple of stars

144

the sun as slow

wings

song

plane a manageable exploit the one seat dives some sharpness is gone you think it will land the tree clears pushed by the wind

145

pound

desert

picture hole in the window, a window in the roof across some moor-blocked space view characters likely they're not home or dying only the birds are these boards the street out front, the cars deft

corners

burn

snow, an hour to streak shingles

146

Time goes where is light as I shut my ears try and turn years the radio comes blind have eyes the made event brought further some notable step again again turned off able to fight sound with sound when the others aren't quiet they give you the means thought goes after speech high lobe advancing a turn

the weather too much

words conversion to look at cloud ring or blue long day side

pockets

in beyond horizons a twig sweeps the sky as the wind constantly fades moonlight comes and bathes trees

147

the sea sounds river open tunnelings beautiful storm clouds the sun shines underneath

148

IT'S ALL OVER the seagulls beating the air the attic just wood the glass broke,

and the door

let them come up and get us it's no use they are the enemy the mad bands of the nazis breaking in the silent flanks of the old works silent forever stand where you are

murderers, where is spring now, the earth cities revolve the mind corners markets a drift

time at the rafters

in the upper regions / in the sky

149

wash-line

the

unreal

firm panes of the sea the old music by now the verge of the imagery shoulder return to the noise

quiet I've come

to consider the air and under the water

150

all these cripples

the ballet music

is what to do energy passes light lightly the shaking swan gives way something physical it's a nightmare like everything else or the hole in the ground bombed out the glassed city outskirts a gate and oppressive dripping stars a witch sabbath lets up another night much in the country growth one place Queen of the maidens Ah Peasants an unshiftable garden bush grave while you've seen otherwise the way things are done pushing away room colors and acting 151

the fancy village square the hunting party ah yes ah yes how it's familiar essentially soundless dawn the incredible end abandon,to keep dancing

152

birds birds what little nudes ripping around feet, feet , feet, feet really headed somewhere house heard carpentry so unexpected firecracker made you dribble july

you get shot

how soon the beach on the way there a mother calling some kid by fetishism we lose'control" (of all the land from

to )

wild death, blind as most lives make the idol disintegrate ourselves within doors some hammer and nails never known how to keep even the trees in mind how long the airports last how long the monasteries

153

deliberate stillness in winded birds

154

sunshine the willow tree the islanded blue sky

squirrel

side-street

turning a corner along the wire they've had that habit of years

cars horns announcing the game's end victory detachment

high powered into the air

extension

trail the squirrel's course

155

goodness

still

color

tv

through parlor

the window

bathroom no smoking the neighbor beside

no dirtiness but

maybe what's gone faster than rain without cough waste,

times

so nothing to

cloudbursting

however

many parts in the day what power make her grave what wonders,

newer than ever weeks, air, e.g., the blueness of sky

no hurt in eyes

156

one light on like the cars

headlights

the fumes

stairway

the door open

and that window

who's to get there up after such stops

use

worked off what's a start made

gone by

punishment

tires

a furniture truck put away nights what clouds whisper moisten

157

a temporary language as temporary things and poetry the math., of everyday life what time Of the day is it lad what have you to do with or gotten done

158

the way you go far from one another circles neighborhood trees spread out corners how conscious young or old birds there are clouds float in the moist air

159

the phonepole line the floorlamp ticks clair de lune as the clock various order

curved coastwise stretch in mind

as how little water memory, can make a flat glint it passes out and in shade a hitch gets brighter and brighter load in transmission musical steps the whole time different miles as repeat

selves

or nothing to imagine far beyond the nodes struck brightness, measure, soft niagara keeping the flow of its fallen mass

160

moving like going by in the truck upward the sky involves reflections the back of the neck there's a slow bird you think you say in the mind country where the wind is brave eyes steel and glass

161

powerful husbands raw

elusive perception

forms go up on the drive the park the steer

slowness abilities

intricate hours and glimpses of branches countries gone blind imagine how the wind eases it's a lot of air

162

what about new-born squirrels the world always moving how long is the tail another little while up our tree he moved his neck he was still on the branch look curving above the cloud with one wing the maple now is bare you can hear the rain we never tapped it there's been juice in every growth

163

they keep changing the weather reports this now

improvement over the hill clouds shape hurry drift a model of glaciation

accurate future few cars on the shore drive consummation time the drenched maple tree snow turned to rain it's got here black bark thinned branches

164

Looks like a tall bird barrels the foreground

165

the rain and the stars in the head in the head beaches slow clouds, the dark

166

Let's see what happens

slowly

the weather's various along the way to read maps cab-driver in whose head numbers of impressions fast swerves eye for windows

167

home fires

burn

walls meet

stars naked cloud shifting

such sky all through the apple branches what distance

shades light

168

sea smells smoke weed the sufficiencies of the past flames shot up through the roof just afterwards and spectators grasping the magnitude

immediately

the situation total edges clapboard points shingles

towers in and out

sky sound the back ground stars where actual land bushes unsinged thousands of minutes later 700-foot front to a building sand spots of the golf-course any place burned-out tv loot flanks heat off taking to fly hour-glass partial moon incised to climb

169

mounds

intricate curbs road section a bike tar black limousine

hoses couldn't reach across the soft sand

low flat

glittering night visible miles days brands four feet long so many windows towards grass and hedges there's one spray vs another the finite the nearest water main unbroken a few hours before good as ever the local said a surprise train whistles often enough memory in the eaves birds, the tries to rescue eggs

170

the seen the skv the to be seen j

colors breezes

171

so the fine green arm of the phone truck the line-men are birds,they might ride to the trees that cross-piece now is precise it takes two the fresh pole there for days plenty of oil share what bright yellow over the tires up north and east can make a sound when did we turn the lights them carried too O it is, huh and nothing can bring it back

172

what a uniform is one thing yellow yellow yellow star (allowed publicly not to wear Sol Rossi Mantua composer court musician 18th cent, syn agog sound special mark of favor Who was behind the sky not visible a sister there slicker stockings and cross garters

a

thing

she detests despises as it may be

or

sombre bearing ill will so high eats into the world in heart of wide cloth

173

or assemblage motleys tabs accessories

various matters

and the soldiers and sailors and p w ' s (pennons the criminals against the cold big top that was briefly enough assured by fantastic tricks and some in velvet

174

liveries

The only difficulties , financial it's lasted a time you question reality and here I am up against the wall, mr Friend a hold-up said persistence /

chemical

groups

in action

shock from the school stage what shining side of the tracks not the original set-up to forget the explosion only thing to do Where's the Safe daily stuck up figuring the whole night in the dawn five died those others drive by fuming

with pistons what sounds in the mine

175

music

a breeze needles diamonds

176

Lamplight as to quiet there's another room in the window surface what wind will stir that fall or winter gleaming snow we almost threw out the piano

177

peace peace and there is no hands

a trip around the sun how would you like to feel it of all the expense

he entereth into peace they rest in their beds each one that walketh in his uprightness

178

Quiet grass ( after Basho

still air rocks the locust cries

179

Heat

unaccountable ( out of Wakoski's "The Magi" )

ages

the star goes but the light remains

180

Y

Printed June 1977 in Santa Barbara & Ann Arbor for the Black Sparrow Press by Mackintosh and Young & Edwards Brothers Inc. Design by Barbara Martin. This edition is published in paper wrappers; there are 250 hardcover copies numbered & signed by the author; & 26 copies handbound in boards by Earle Gray lettered & signed by the author.

Photo: Barton Eigner

Larry Eigner was born in the summer of 1927 on Massachusetts Bay between Boston and Gloucester, near Salem, and lives there still. "For Larry Eigner," writes Samuel Charters, "the circumstances of his life have given a form and a shape to his poetry. He is a spastic, and his life has been spent in a glassed-in front porch of a frame house on a side street in a small Massachusetts town. Through the windows—and through the windows of his bedroom—he follows the world of seasons, the sky, and birds, the trees." And Robert Duncan has said of Eigner's poetry, "His eye, searching into the depths of the visual field, his ear, attentive to sounds beyond, command the poem directly . . ." Larry Eigner's first book of poems was published by Robert Creeley's now famous Divers Press in Mallorca in 1953, and ce then Eigner has published over twenty books of verse, st recently Stirring Together or Far Away (1974).

Me longer true of #»© Boston 'Public Library, sitcfttfs suatorlal the Ubw i

Boston Public Library Copley Square

General Library

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