http://www.levelerpoetry.com Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:10:57 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en from Have the Hands Ask it Back I’m aware of the new reply, differences between early and later starts to the day.  A greater sense of rousing—ducks tucked into little patterns, distant flock of urban matters.  I am here and alone, sharing.  The hawk doesn’t come around.  The hummingbird pipped as ... http://www.levelerpoetry.com/from-have-the-hands-ask-it-back/ levelheaded: from Have the Hands Ask it Back Ever been on a road trip with a bad driver? With somebody that has no sense of direction? How about with someone that’s got a really annoying voice? Or with somebody who rambles on and on without making any sense? It sucks. Unfortunately, ... http://www.levelerpoetry.com/from-have-the-hands-ask-it-back-levelheaded/ Cleaning the Buick Joe drives the ’62 Buick through the pleasant little town You remark that if you had a bicycle you could explore the town Two four-door cars pull in behind you as you leave town They follow you to a roadblock and box you in They test Joe for ... http://www.levelerpoetry.com/cleaning-the-buick/ levelheaded: Cleaning the Buick “Cleaning the Buick” is like one of Frank Stella’s Black Paintings, in which patterns of thick black lines are painted just thick enough that the white of the canvas shows through in thin, wispy lines. Underneath and between his broad minimalist strokes, Stella reveals a truth about ... http://www.levelerpoetry.com/cleaning-the-buick-levelheaded/ levelheaded: The ABC’s of Loss The magic behind this tale of horror lies in the poetics beneath its shocking facts. First to emerge, the poetics of a haunted self. “I am,” the speaker insists: “an animal forgetting / itself in parts,” “the more lonely of [a museum’s] curators,” and “nobody because of / ... http://www.levelerpoetry.com/the-abcs-of-loss-levelheaded/ The ABC's of Loss A. I'm losing my accent, an animal forgetting itself in parts; two-thirds arms, three-quarter legs, my body a memory of three meals and lots of books I sit in my hardest chair, playing in my inner deportation center wrestling to see what I'll have to abandon tonight, testing the next story against the ... http://www.levelerpoetry.com/the-abcs-of-loss/ levelheaded: S is for Schwa Refresher: “schwa (noun, phonetics), the mid-central, neutral vowel sound typically occurring in unstressed syllables in English, however spelled, as the sound of a in alone and sofa, e in system, i in easily, o in gallop, u in circus” (dictionary.com). Given that the organizing principle of ... http://www.levelerpoetry.com/s-is-for-schwa-levelheaded/ S is for Schwa There’s no need to plan for another pile of cars on the freeway. If there is blood & bone then there is karma. Delirious moments, arrive together! Having the texture of down, gravity becomes an apparatus for splitting words & redistributing them as multiple choice tests. Check dialogue box & determine whether ... http://www.levelerpoetry.com/s-is-for-schwa/ levelheaded: Beard Weaned The “Weaned” of Jay Snodgrass’s title could refer to the speaker’s act of ditching facial hair, or his having been made accustomed to facial hair since childhood. Either way, the author’s decision to go from scruff to buff marks two notably different periods in his life.  From the beginning, “Beard Weaned” ... http://www.levelerpoetry.com/beard-weaned-levelheaded/ Beard Weaned  Many years ago I unsubscribed to facial hair and found my lips protruding from my face the relation to my inner life was not found there I had a thick presence then, you could find me at mercy anonymous or simply aroused I felt my chin under the hair took to yanking my beard back along the face ... http://www.levelerpoetry.com/beard-weaned/