4th and Wall

6

from 4th and Wall walking to Crocker 
past San Pedro past it's language spell
or letter it and ask anyone if and why
they understand it "Do you?" the reader,
are you really reading these words and
if so "Do you really give a shit?" what
does syntax and meaning mean to you?
anything?  do you understand "signifiers?"

the train from Fontana derailed in Commerce
"oh we were hungry." do you know what
an artifact is? and do you really...
an eye on the ground one
in the air deception, reality words
from the LA Times

4th and Wall

5

the temperature is lower in the alleys
lower even here but it's Santa Monica
only low clouds June weather June weather
warming up Wilshire Blvd toward La Brea
sings out of stores out of clothing stores:

since having all toes removed walking is
a breeze a free feeling tonight the drinks
will flow flowing into your mouth into
your thoughts "Is this your house?"

Can I park my car?
Where do you know me from and why? A
person a man a woman a full time bitch
car salesman beggar fearful husband pre-owned
and proud loser of fortunes stand up
and take you're fucking clothes off it's
a prize some wish

for wish for then forget wish for then forget

4th and Wall

4

put some glasses on read a so many
sounds ears back forward nose sniffing
the air in figure it round it well out
someone in black with badges rides by
and points to the left a cement mixer
stops and several people walk around
waiting taking tubes and attaching them
to a long line take one moment express
a feeling express a noticeable feeling
scratch those sun spots those teary eyes
that don’t focus would you be able to see
if this Minnesota garden left you blind
and debilitated with multiple sclerosis
are we confused you and me walking back
and forth

4th and Wall

3

Over the					paunch
Chain link fence surrounds			the
Sidewalk					there
At the freeway entrance				Pasadena
Time						tide
Waiting cut					off
Chain						link
Fence “When					all
Stitches sew the sentence			up.”
Up						where?
Between						the
One						meter
Steps of					poured
Concrete:					in.
We are such crap…				yielding
Capital ethic					working
The ‘in’					service
Of some						rising
Material function				faith
That						rings
With						salvation
“Ah! Yes”					idealism
OK!						Run
With						blocks
Of bricks stacked one				upon.
Do you really capture				this
Essence						panorama?
Are expressing a				truth?
Are						you?
Rough winds					higher
Up around the building 				roof (tops)
See the						clouds
Then						breathe
Notice the					roses
Decoding meaning within a 			two
By four square along				side
Your						thoughts

4th and Wall

2

Drooling in					the
Drivel under the pillow				putting
The 						past
Into parallel with the				next
Day						present
"Don't read					it
This						way."
One eye						on
The sky the other				closed:
Watching					red
Spots						waving
While						spinning
In a						bathtub
Whirl						pool
This brought back some				wound
Repeated cycles					that
"Lean						over,
Head in						the
Street."					It
Could						contain
Injustice shared				over
Uncertain					Christ
Like						tendencies
To dream up pain				separation
A soul lost a					cold...
"Just						drivel"
Laid on the table				in
No 						real
Order bound					to
Doubt, just looping back			again
The newspaper said 'confluence'			it
Read						one
Eye open					it
Reached into					a
Pocket pulling out a				fresh
Band						aid

4th and Wall

1

Touch me					then
Place a towel over				my
Eyes;						two
Eyes	that M knows				in
Watching					the
Reflection, -spection				to
Where						W
Waits while					balancing
M does the same,				too
Function					words
Place						holders
Wall						Street
4th Street					yet
No						bank
Ing, no ATM touch				me
Then W						vomits
Two						legs
Waiting, the					street
Holds						asphalt
M						does
The same					also
Sewing						jeans
First						floor
Touch me again since				you
Pulled a shirt on				over
Pronounce					it
"Patterns from a Miles				Davis"
Catalogue					Creeley
In a						box
Turn it over and 				look
The tube slippery walls				hands
Hanging						sliding
Falling down					again
First splendor					seen
Airless horizon smoke valley,			too
River						moves
Then we						touch
The towel hides us				again
Closed						eyes

E Riding the Crane

4

Pictures of loved ones, a son, a daughter. Eight and nine
Dresser full of socks and underwear, mothers old wedding
Ring. Sit up for a young bastard outside you look "Rejecting
Everything in meter, but you can't lose meter," condemned
Younger than you, you say

Stagger up					The basis
A flight of					The base
Stairs each					The true thing
One an inch					'Edmund out'
Higher or					'Edgar in'
Lower de					Please take
Pending on					This land
Eyesight					Back take
Yours that					This letter

Unbuttons your shirt unbuttons your pants you won't fall
From this height you know the steel that is being built
Overlooking it: lights swing up words fly up
Misunderstood.

E Riding the Crane

3

The machine slows and stops, lights out a...
Free verse, a passage through, a freeway. A
Song ringing through the stereos
On Main Street. Night song. Echo, not a 

Resolution, not. At 5am workers
Park and talk. Walk to the construction
Site. Seven thirty pm a dozen 
LAPD cruisers are parked on First
Street. "I'm looking up, I'm looking down."
News vans, helicopters: between the streets
In alleys (if you can find one) are
Many that haven't (has no one) noticed.
'A fire hydrant sits, looking out, look
Ing in,' dripping, drip. The water flows
To San Pedro Street and dives into
A drain. "We will not go to the sea, not
Tonight." Or any other night. Words bouncing,
Bouncing off building walls. 9pm the arm
Swings 180 degrees: spotlights from invisi
Ble birds in circles flying, or...

E Riding the Crane

2

Opposite the swinging arm: a face
In the forward window. Hanging not re
Flected, hanging not floating, "A
Glance, truth is an accident." When

Two eyes, little happy faces staring
Out. "Mystery and night, planets revol
Ving in the existent and non, lost 
The child (care)." The school is down the
Street, it's yellow with basketball courts.
Years... that's it. Five hundred yards away. A
Way, "Bark bark bark." Where to work?
'To work tomorrow, work tomorrow.'
Nobody is hearing, listening, comp
Prehending. "Heal it." The space over
The kitchen sink, teas, vitamins
Soap, old pictures of dogs, dead, alive.
Witchcraft and goddesses, "She left me a
Lone, again." Unintelligible
Messages rising up, floating.

E Riding the Crane

1

Seven thirty PM Los Angeles
And First. Haze, dust from a new building, a
Pile of concrete, a pile of metal
Hanging wires and bright lights, yards

Of fencing, signs lit from behind: were 
It to be that one would leave un-affect
Ed. Behind, the couch, the TV, the liq
Our. No not the wine. A son dis
Solved wife and husband, out nine years.
Last night the ghosts were flying in from San
Bernardino ("H you have a head
Like a potato.") you can add
To this if you want, most won’t, the masses
Typing away in the... surrounding us
Is repetition, "Ah, the subtlest
Sound, tap the dancing and spin it
Around," would you, you take this brick, a
Brick, rusty shovel. He's climbed fourteen
Flights of metal stairs, the mirror, "The
Heightened social corruption
That settles." Swinging to the left, swing
Ing to the right, a full circle. As the
Sun sets. The engine quietly works
While a helicopter circles, opposite.