Francis RAVEN is an editorial assistant at the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. Broken Boulder press just recently published two chapbooks :"Notestalk" and "Notationing". His poems have been published in Pindeldyboz, Monkey Bicycle, Mudlark, Pavement Saw, Poethia, The In Posse Review, and The East Village, among others. Essays and articles of Mssr. Raven's have been published in Clamor, In These Times, Fulcrum, Rain Taxi, The New Colonist, Taint, and Pavement Saw.

CORNERS FORMING ROOMS
 

AND LIKE LORDS
THE ANGLES WERE MET

AND LIKE LOVE
THE ARCS WERE ...

tape hiss

spicer's crazy
after lorca

after x after y after z

and what color should the book jacket be?

AND LIKE LORDS
THE OBJECTS FILLED
EXPANDING ZERO

and what color should my jacket be?

no one asks about the body...
it's appropriate
no one asks about the words either...
(that is, what color they shouLd ...)

WEARING THINGS IS A CRITIQUE
WEARING COVERS I WANT TO SLEEP
IN YOUR ARMS
I'M TOO WORN TO WANT ANYTHING
I WANT TO WEAR YOU

hear a hum of lullybyebyes
hear a hum now not so quiety becomings
here a hum and there a bum, give a penny, give a song,
give a dollar, here a rhyme, hear a rhyme or see a rhyme?

which is water...which is water?
flood the quiet hall with muzac now
elevator ups, hiccups and bumps
the water falling into its own flood...

IT'S JUST WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE.
NO, NO NO, IT'S JUST WATER UNDER THE WATER.
AND LIKE LOUD THE GUITAR WAS BROKEN.
 

Copyright © Francis Raven, 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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