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.

Sleeping at Rose Street

3

And, "Lying on the sidewalk, a
Sleep," watching the 'Rather'
Watching the doorway for a
Sign. "More cannot be done, not now, not

Now." Does a wall rise to hold a
Winter rain from flowing
Into a house? Through the win
Dow more reflections of 'Nike.' Eyes close.

When loss is coupled with many
Deaths. Repeating, repeat
Ed, here the last song sung
Gertrude, Claude, Caesar, Ha... ving no one, no

Where. Holding up a bottle to
Drink again, "No winter
Rain in May." Sing alto
Gether now, "No winter rain in May!"

A microscope gathers under
Light the nails. Fingers
Swollen and pale. "You can look
At this face," raising the arm. "It's no

One I know," lowering the arm.
Lowering the activity
Lowering the neurons, low
Ering. "Say, is it chance or accident?"

Sleeping at Rose Street

2

...Of cars stopped while a man waves a stop sign in
Repeated motion, in re-peated
Waving, "Some of the concepts can't be
Forced, they... those patterns of speech engaged words

Pulled from tongues and mouths by." Relation-ships
Appear deficient. The tangle that
Surrounds and be-moans the thoughts that envelope
And whine. Four wheels pass by at a time, "A human

Mind in the box-wood hedge," the sleeping tired, the
Unfocused image a head pressed
Into the wall by a shiny boot eyes
That open, a mouth, "This may seem like power o
Ver change, you may think this boot is a final act."

Between an open door and someone
Standing blocking the entrance, Joe Pass play
Ing "............" the afternoon sun warms the hands. Re-wrapping

Over and over re-wrapping. A ra
Zor, double edge, sleeves are back in
And pulled, "This that is turned to clay."
This radio playing, "Freud..." tunes. The wind comes.

Sleeping at Rose Street	

1

Between a parking lot and a restaurant
Between a newspaper
Stand and the corner. A bucket of wa
Ter, vinegar, toothbrush. Shift the scene up one or
Things, bricks and almonds." Between a lot...

More levels: a group of people, one flight up
Writing software, another group sew
Ing jeans, one person rubbing a ciga
Rrete butt between his fingers, "This isn’t a head
Things, bricks and almonds." Between a lot...

Resting on a blanket on concrete." This isn’t
Sitting on a rolling bus bench. The 
Scene shifts up two more levels, from the roof 
Of the 'Ronald Reagan' State building looking o
Ver 'Little Tokyo' and in the 'Arts 
District' (supposed). Forget the bor
Rowed thoughts, "Forget Jameson," normal
Tongue tied twice, tie it to a bed post, a
Handcuffed mission, "Forget it, the treatment of
Things, bricks and almonds." Between a lot...

Temple to Alameda

4

"Golf ball of my life," flying over the ra
Zor wire, hitting, street and walls hard ri
Chochet, concrete noises ec
Hoing, "The... golf ball of my life, I had to
Leave my wife," singing slowly, deli
Berately, then throat clearing and
Phlegm flies, hitting the wall just a
Bove the letter 'B,' it's continuous, every
10 seconds or less - creating a
Waterfall, a complete Japan
Ese garden, streams and rocks cut to
Exact proportions... standing then walking
Left eye-swollen shut, "When did we be
Gin thinking in this critical
Way?" The sound, golf ball against a
Hard surface. "Politically accept
Able vocab(words)ulary, de
Viant, subordinately."
The golf ball rolls and stops, "A signifier,
A violent law." Step, slide foot, step, slide
Foot in shoes, Adidas, too small, white
And worn. "Golf ball of my life, I'm
Singing about you, yeah... about you and when
We were together."

Temple to Alameda

3

A soccer ball flies over the razor
Wire fence, bounces down Alameda.
Wheelchair man pushes off over,
Eyes glued to the ball, wheeling slowly, a
Methodical approach. "A search for closed 
Form," the ball must reach the net or death
Will come slowly through an autumn
That colors red the eastern trees, colors the
West yellows, ochre, browns. Legs pop out of
The ball and run, gotta get back to Al
Ameda. Singing, "A process a
Product, let symbolize immanence, oh Charles,"
The ball is a valued object, in
A field where tall weeds and dirty clothes
Fill the environment and the
Shopping cart carries groceries - "you are the..."

Temple to Alameda

2

A basketball flies over the ra
Zor wire fence into the weeds on
Temple, nearly noon, the clouds fly by a
A 747 from Taiwan, turning west
Into LAX; share the hands, crack the neck.
Shuffling along focused eyes
Out of focus, towards Alameda
Arms reach out of the basketball and wave,
"Howdy, hey take me home, bounce me, please."
Rocking back n forth trying to
Roll out of the high grass; stops and looks at
The ball, "I'm ready for a chance, a chance
To get some shoes and kleenex." If I
Jump in the river, on my own
And acting as if, if I do it. And
Perform and die: 'Too much water hast thou...'
The basketball is smiling happy
Cat, on Alameda. A man
In a wheelchair and writing table stand
Watching work across the street 
From a Clark construction site

Temple to Alameda

1

A tennis ball flies over the razor
Wired fence, bouncing into the street, once, twice
Again and rests against a piece of wood. Two eyes
Pop open, glazed green/hazel fixed on 
Smooth/rough fabric; superficial layers
Covering a hundred years of unmoved earth.
Begin by stuttering or babbling. And reach
Into a front pocket for a dollar. The
Fluorescent orange ball asks, "Is this the
Weight of enlightenment poetry posted late in
The 20th century?" Compression, a search for a
Literary solution, pissing behind the
Bushes facing away. "Take this dollar,
Buy a donut." The two eyes close: a vision
Of shallow brown water, mixed with white
Clothes and a blue boat. Where is it, the brown coat?
Is this the movie that stopped short for
A moment of love? One person and a mirror
Or no one reaching out from a bench, too tired
To ask, "By the way, did you know they pulled her from the water?"