1
an elliptical balloon
2
an ordinary
tree
3
a tiny
traffic
light
4
within a shelter
black flatiron wedges indicate
recessive abysses
5
the chalk enfanta
chryselephantined
6
only the sounds
of the critic
7
San Francisco
8
many-colored
jammed together crowd
9
she stands out in a
black tight
bursting
10
a flood of cut diamonds
carpools of blood
11
vegetable strips fly beside the decorated mountain
12
the slender
hands of the clock
☼
13
you were not born
yesterday
in a field of leeks
shy one
don’t take it for laziness
the sky is bright
there’s nothing
of the twilight
at mid-morning
steps and stairs
(a passage from a novel)
puff
into God’s Lake Michigan
like a tondo
the oldest family
portrait
but the lightest blue
sheets
of water
for windows
14
as though Mayor Daley
rolled over in his grave
opening his watery
cloudy sun-spot eyes
and saw a
thirty-fivish matron
her hand
shading her face
(passages of fashion description)
shadows to cut her legs
in crescents
half a foot
below the knee
her feet visible
behind a marble slab
as she stands by the frieze
of the Art Institute a large box
of bedraggled
peonies overhead
“Coca-Cola” high and dry
15
harness it like
donkey wings — deafening
look
it’s about 1:30
brick, stone, steel, glass
building
the love of the body
park
and lake
diamond
sand
light
like a little girl
16
an American
builder and
architect have erected
a piece of pie
meanwhile
across the street
a musical comedy is playing
at the movies
in a 1910 building
and over it
a shadow
trimmed in
yellow neon
17
Lake Michigan
is 923 feet deep
and Chicago
was incorporated
March 4, 1837
pleasure boats
at McCormick Place-on-the-Lake
and behind them
a building
half the size of the lake
the distant buildings
of the downtown
light blue
18
is 3:30 worse
than 3 o’clock
take the temple
off its mount
look underneath
are trees
indebted to the sky?
if you love her does it
make Chicago better?
disillusionment
is in illusion
a wind on a sunny day
and everyone is braced
like John Hancock
(a) (listen) “they have
windows in Chicago”
(b) “the water tower has
windows in it”
19
where were we
1:30? 1:45
a green tub
filled with smelly geraniums
Florentine chiesi
(passages of detail: barbecue grills
a woman standing
with a coffee cup
at a window
the flood of morning sun
over the lake)
ignore them?
hardly a car
in sight and
the bridge full
at half past 2 — serene
in the sense of
“cold and wet”
20
the rush hour
come and gone
bleeding
blue neon blood
St. Peter
in the posture
of “Aleptor”
dark parking lots
a streetlight
ultraviolet
a hotel
made of
hotel
21
dark now
dark over all
her attractions
parks
and boulevards
the Natural History Museum
the Navy Pier
Planetarium
Aquarium
the Board of Trade
but over Science
and Industry
the flags are still up
and the inside lights
light up the
roof in an
eerie
green
22
Chicago
how changed thou art
at Christmastime
green and red
ornaments
upon the building
a single light
atop a tower
a black spike
above it
random
windows
lit in a
cross of light
in the distance
apartments (a
familiar sight)
the cool river
under arches
her surface
streaked
23
well
O’Hare
it’s time
to say goodbye
a Chic-
ago
planes arranged
”thatched”? an
appurtenance
of the city?
dressed
in a blue serge suit
listen (adjusting glasses)
look (he sees it)
a long moment
then
a little dirty concrete
bushes
of trees
cars
and houses
☼
24
Santa Fe
Galapagos
Islands
fumarole
activity
first
observation
in the fall
rough rectangular
horst
water
vapor
through
a fault
through crevices
event
inconspicuous
can’t be seen
more than
10 meters off
25
7:30 am
cloud
of ash
erupting through
cloud base
New
Hebrides
blocks
of rock
thrown up
6:00 pm
an island
of cinders
a meter
high
moon-like
ten days later
the smell of sulphur
ground still warm
under foot
kick it
smoke appears
shallow sea
too hot
to touch
26
11:00 pm
west shore of
Petit Bras River
caved in
31 lives lost
half a
thousand
years ago
marine clay liquefied
ran to the sea
eons
ago
the Champlain Sea
covered
the region
deposited
the sensitive
clay
it ran again
today
the slide
bounded by
scarp of
the ancient slide
swallowed 40 homes
27
Shetland
Islands
Bird Kill
SE shore of
Shetlands
crossed
the border
all day long
fog had
set in
North Sea
winds
started
coming ashore
dead
half way
up the east coast
at Gulberwick
gulls set up
a commotion
alarm was
felt
in the sea bird
colonies
all along the coast
28
a pod of
28 pilots
on the beach
January
USA
high tide
line
mature females
strewn along
with juveniles
skin
abraded off
from thrashing
tidal
action
post mortem
Navy took a look
animals
had been
”carved up”
no surf
high tide
spawning squid
slope in the beach
steep drop-off
29
Belearic Isles
unusually high
population of
the white-tailed
rat
’70 saw
peak in the
reproduction rate
every female
pregnant
although
said
the rodents had
”invaded” crops
in spring
belly
contents show
them feeding on
spiders, lizards
and mice
investigators
felt
increase
due to favorable
conditions
30
May
Deluth
Minnesota
Lake
Superior
fire
spread
under
extreme burning
conditions
moving
5 miles
every 8 hours
(5/8 of a
mile per hour)
7 aircraft
17 tractors
five hundred and fifty
men
Fire Load Index 93
lake’s
entire watershed
burned
nutrient flux
entrophied
31
661-foot
Boston-bound
U.S.
tanker
“Texaco Oklahoma”
distress
signal
NE of
Hatteras
never heard
split
in
two
and
sank
Liberian
“Sasstown”
picked the
crew up
out of the slick
stricken
vessel carried
200,000
barrels
heavy sulfur oil
32
the rare
well-protected
Saiga antelope
invaded the
wheat lands
in Kazakhstan
expensive
fencing
had to be
installed
antelope
on the rampage
relax
hunting
restrictions
winter
in Bet Pak Dala
many
die from cold
and hunger
spring
migrate
north
escape the
desert
33
June
Liverpool
Liverpool
Naptha
Escape
exposure of
naked lights
prohibited
town
cordoned off
a half million
gallons in the
tanks
guard had gone
to sleep
moon
down at
3:00 o’clock
valves
unfastened
by dawn dirt
soaked
some in
mudflats down
by the river
34
the most
pelagic auk
in the temperate
North Atlantic
is in
a state of
decline
Brittany, Cornwall
and the Irish Sea have
all been touched
precipitous
isles of Scotland
endangered
burrow counts
show it
puffins due to
fledge have been
declining to do so
no explanation for
disposition
pox
down
herring up
no visible evidence
of oil slick
35
Sea
Swallow
Arrival
Pointe
Noire
fifteen birds
attrapés délivrés
à l’Office
de la Recherche
Outre-Mer
mass
arrival
of
sea
swallows
banned in
the U.K.
Helgoland
East Germany
and Finland
ces oiseaux
sont pas
françaises
Centre de
Pointe-Noire
36
October and
November
according to
Drs. Wolfenbarger
and Pfirschebaum
green peach aphids
appeared
on peppers
tomatoes
and squash
potatoes
came up
and soon were
heavily
infested
aphids
carried viruses
lady beetles
not enough to
keep them down
aphids lions
failed to
multiply
cabbage looper
also on the rise
37
Peace
River
Phosphate
Spill
(Florida)
the Cities
Service
dike
has fallen
in
colloidal slime
oozing
down through
Widden Creek into
the Peace River
the bass
bull head
channel cat
some of the fish
affected
spreading
to the mouth
gar and mudfish
wash up on
the flat
38
three
year
blackbird
irruption
(North Carolina)
blackbirds
shat
all over
the people
Scotland Neck
used
their yards
for toilets
when it dried the
people inhaled it
try to
smoke them
out
it doesn’t
work
only way
they say
is chop
down
the trees
39
Squilla
Armata
Population Increase
May-June
South Africa
large
numbers
found
in the stomachs
of snoek
St. Petersburg
Red Tide
Summer ’71
Florida
(USA)
in the tide’s
early stages
bottom fish —
mullet and catfish —
killed
later
eels
even Jewfish
dead along
the beach
40
Würzburg
(Deutschland)
Princeton
(Ohio-Indiana-
Kentucky)
two
fireballs
sighted
early in the
year
one
a globe
its tail
bright over
Germany
other bright
or brighter than
the full moon
sonic boom
stillness
41
Tanzania
Army Worm
Outbreak
bowl
of worms
female
lays a
thousand
eggs
at a time
no pesticide
yet
found
to control
the devil
42
avalanche
Chungar, Peru
rocks slid into
the lake at
200 kph
the village
itself
buried
200
people dead
43
in Alicante
and Malaga in
Cadiz and Granada
in Las Palmas de Cararia
the white fly
is king
☼
44
historic Boston and
her institutions of
higher
learning
scenic Boston
the oldest house in the
new world
the oldest frame building
in Boston
her Beacon Hill
her State Capitol of
Massachusetts
Bullfinch and his
golden dome
the capital of the colony
of the company
of the province
Sacred Cod
St. Gaudens on
Boston Common
flag of the new republic
the colonnade
a tree
45
Paul Revere
went on his famous
“midnight ride”
April 18, 1775
the Cabots and the
Lodges settled down
on Beacon Hill
in Louisburg Square
behind the Capitol
gaslight burns
in the afternoon
statues indicating
civilization
a black
spike-topped fence
protects the
charm of this old
residential
neighborhood
passerby are
free to enjoy
the original
sidewalks
46
spring
comes to Boston
in summer flowers
yellow
flowers
yellow on the black
background of
spray
a green coat — Filene’s?
a brawny arm
a bouffant sink
behind dark glasses
Government Center
City Hall
(Boston)
adjacent to
and state office
buildings
a beautiful
fountain in
the midst of a
broad
plaza
47
in Dock Square
Faneuil Hall
cradles
American liberty
fiery orators
urging the people
against the crown
later
(1742)
the ground
floor is used
as a market
windows
in the Place
have shades
beneath a puffy
cool
New England
sky
an orange
brick blush
a bronze
Mercury
48
the Tremont Street
Mall
under trees
which flutter
at the passing
taxis
Park Church
sits along with
other dirty
buildings
as a woman
takes her jacket off
where Garrison
first preached
anti-slavery
(1829)
and “America”
was first sung
“Brimstone Corner”
the start
of the Boston
Freedom
Trail
49
St. Paul
reverses
the Old North Church
but looks away
leaving the
trees waving
in a patriotic
breeze
the pedestal is
green
and sky deep blue
the flag is
red white and blue
its red
redder than
brick
its white
whiter than steeples
its blue deeper
than sky blue
the Redcoats are
marching on
Concord
☼
50
radio city
it is an act of the will
and it depresses
the rusty vent blows the hot air up onto the roof
a brown facade hangs over from the 1920s
in West Virginia
feeding the trees
up the block
someone is unhappy in a room
“Music Hall” in early1940s
letters — “Magazines,” etc.
cars rumble in the street
in the 1950s there were new inventions
that sound funny doesn’t it
a man in the street about to cross it
molten
she taps at the sidewalk
before 2:00 o’clock
with her umbrella
cars and panel trucks go racing by the side street
a big windshield — blue patch
glints and yellow and red ones farther
along up above between the church
or over it in a pale blue sky fay
timer fay timer or something like that
on the side of a pale VW bus
51
Park Avenue
hard to see it even in the shadows
the bright flag
throbs but is held
back by the light
a black limousine decoy
among them against the iron railing
either she blares out in pink her hand held
or the cat nearly cuts her head off
as his forehead receives the bullet
in bright day
shrubs and shrubbery spring trees in the alley
a convention of suits
going on underneath
a g-man
hail Mary full of grace light sparse clouds and
in the struggle unseen
for the flags are all clear including those
the light changes
the traffic
buckle
paper
sandwich light mid-afternoon
the throbbing stops
a Southeast Asian diplomat
has been given a ticket
52
pure still a bit of
daylight in the city
growing families than any other
Woolworths
Regal Shoes
Gordon’s Bonds
until the checker smells
the light in the edges of every brick
and the clock
2 minutes to 9
3 minutes to 9
the big plug of a minute man handing an
arrow to another man with
a shirt on his back
wings on the simian blue marquee
cueing the sign
bus blinks the driver’s hand over the box
B and O
intoxicating every
impulse to seduction
bulbs expanding with ton pressures
use of blue patches of radio any season
Chinese floors
mutual screens
Thermofax working all night
53
city hall (hell)
too tired to imagine anything on Sunday
Brazilian dental work in Jamaica
he took it from underneath a tree
and didn’t say Louisiana to himself
or think “New Orleens”
A desperate
Chuzzlewit
her three eyebrows high
fire nose
lowering to the level of
regret and fenestration
all in the shadow where it hurts to see
fluorescence
the shrubs go dark green
their shadow failing
to fade completely into the building shadow
how did Nicaragua lose its
mansions — on account of you?
tell the truth
had nothing whatsoever to do with Athens
“soft” or otherwise
higher than the flag she holds
her scale
how small she looks
her hand even smaller
54
across the river
really quite beautiful — a word that Karen used
it was in something she
was talking about
every one of them threatening
to become a daylight
a lifetime
I know these lights
the air is maybe not the same but the sky
is you see it
makes any impression
but totally different
used to do nothing about anything
and perhaps you
anyway gratte-ciel
Mary John crazy not crazy — house? mouse?
what do you say?
the umpire state?
the Chrysler standing tall at dawn
Walt Whitman going up and
down his
they don’t mention
the hate only the dignity
leave it to the lawyers
people with wit and money
the way you are
55
the long thinnish pale yellow imperfect line
drops down the front of the office window
wince
and fade into another man
the hero in a
short novella
“Winter in Central Park”
all the buildings had their heat on
cold as the dickens outside
a sanitation man
thinks of handing a shovel to those kids
and let them clear the ice
for themselves
the back on a hill
the trees so very cold
snow with godless blue shadows
blue green figures
of so many of them
simply impersonal under the eyes of the
complex fun they have
someone’s notion of tragedy
dislocation
the best of it buried in the snow
a solitary
black-coated passerby
pausing at the fence
☼
56
in a Bierstube
two men
sit at a table
dealing cards
57
on the surface of
the ocean
gray wavelets
peak and slap
58
at the heart of town
she sipped a glass
the goût de terroir
acidic
59
a 10,000 soldier
floated of Corpus Christi
Louis XIV dot in West Berlin-Centrum
60
the rose
and
mountain
stem
of the white rose
over the mountain
the stem of the
white rose white
with light
the mountain
light
in dark
midnight
light in the
grass
ice
in the mountain
stem
☼