my loneliness fits me like a shroud

(recent poems 2000-2002)


untitled

i'd really like to crawl into that grate, that grill, that drain into the sewer system
sink down, sink down,
to where no one can see me
hidden completely
down in the sewers
goodbye, my child


Jupiter opp Neptune, Venus opp Pluto, & Uranus trine Uranus & Venus

les femmes, les femmes
mes hommes, mes hommes
beaucoup de toutes les choses
trop de Moi

mindre d'eGo?

s'il vous plâit?

les jambes, les jambes

the lines
the heroes
the geometric shapes

spirals,
baby


untitled

Lombard Street
Darby Paoli Road
Ardmore Avenue
Trianon Lane
Rue d'Université
Rue St. Dominique
Drosselvangen
Utterslev Allé
Rue St. Urbain
Rue St. Denis
Spruce Street
Amager Boulevard
Vermlandsgade
Cort Adelers Gade
San Jose Avenue
Russell Street
Hillegass Avenue
Frederikssundsvej


Nëw

we must convince people not to be convinced
but to relax
we must exert energy in order to persuade them not to exert energy

active non-violence
Gandhi said


untitled

watch for ugly flood
frantic road she would recall
like death lives sleeping in summer


i'm

i'm rotting in Oakland
i'm basking in Amsterdam
i'm swimming in Nassau
i'm bleeding in Rosarito
i'm wondering in Moskva
i'm crying in København
i'm surfing in Ocean City
i'm drinking in Philadelphia
i'm sweating in Athens
i'm partying in Lo$ Angeles
i'm screwing in Montréal
i'm shivering in Zürich
i'm singing in Edinburgh
i'm learning in Capetown
i'm laughing in New Orleans
i'm eating in Paris
i'm dancing in Praha
i'm sailing in Miami
i'm staying in Thira

(Oakland, 2 June 2000)


untitled

rendered solitary again
trapped again in the void
punctuated stillness
calculated ennui
the company of others now a burden

an empty room
phone ringing off of the hook
line & sinker tied round the heart
(piercing the heart)


darkness' attic room

the silence is like a death grip
the darkness is stifling
the emptiness beckons
like a void
light a torch!
turn on the lamp!
ah, i can breathe again
the air rushes in to my nostrils
the fresh air of fir
evergreens
snowy slopes --

listen to the hum of background radiation

what frequencies go there?
hark - who passes?

the spirit of gravity is very much alive

a light in the wilderness dispels the claustrophobia

the veil is become thin

i ran into a density cloud last night,
she said
the eyes sparkled
nobody noticed that we had made the vertical
horizontal

thanks for not coming
you were playing yr part
greater forces are at work than you & i
i look through the crystal ball and i see
a time for the body
an embodied rhythm
amen

(Berkeley?, Fall/Winter 2000?)


untitled

we dream of trees
we dream of being free
open spaces
God
ideals
beauty
castles in the sand
temples in clouds
being the universe
orbiting the Earth
the world being a better place
of walking on the moon
of always being in the moon
of truth


untitled

elevation
elevate me later
kom lille hund
hvordan går det
the sunlight streaming in
life suddenly becomes something straight out of a poem
the greatest old Dylan tune
snowflakes whip around
the world is at peace
the battle of the elements is at end
éternelle
sans fin

merci beaucoup
for nu

du nikker
med dit hoved
ja, det er dit horoskop

this is a work in progress
yeah
a work in progress
but is it a progress
in work?
est-ce que ça marche?
what are you thinking
go out & look at the stars


elendigt

elendigt

jeg har det elendigt
jeg så diq i fjernsyn
det var elendigt

elendigt
jeg har det elendigt

(København, 8 June 2001)


untitled

swallow says
rise
and fall

swallow says
rise
and fall

swallow says
flap yr wings!


untitled

Si je te donne les choses importants
qu'est-ce que ça veut dire?
Si je te regarde dans les ombres ce soir
est-ce que ça va marcher?
J'ai traversé tous les bordels ce soir
je m'énnerve de ces trucs
j'ai combiné une grande désespoir
hélas, je suis passé partout

Law y bravery
maxi-pads are savoury
summon yr courage, you lout
suffer those seedlings of doubt
yr nose reminds me of a waterspout
the rhymes they are a strange thing

so summon yr courage, you water-drenched thug
don't let neo-nazis go pull out the rug
from under yr feet before you've pulled out the plug
and everythings suddenly flaming
'cause the rhymes they are a strange thing

i've bled in Damascus, been stuck in Iran
so please let me tell you we must take a stand
while paupers & monkeys all do as they please
you won't
find me
laughing
'cause the rhymes they are a strange thing

Law y bravery
maxi-pads are slavery


untitled

yr body is a flame
my tongue licks up & down you
like dry air
a pale dry flame
dry heat


untitled

you wander away
but the clouds are my permanent companion


women & children first

women & children first
children first
sunrise
on a new day
juxtaposition
yr license plate
the blackness
of the water
relax
pull you under
chains
& silver bullets
knives
& waylaid stations

my love for you is a beacon
for what i don't know
(i have my guesses
i have my hopes)

butchers
pardoned wanderers
désespoir
plumbed marauders
skeletons
feed perspiring
engaged
in naughty pasttimes

i forget the sky
the sky doesn't forget me
i hope
the sky doesn't forgive AC
why air condition anyway?

plagues
boils & broils
i hear my name called -
what is that,
sirens?

before we go under
pack yr bags, i hear the screaming
why does this stretch so far from its mark?

i hear a daisy
or is it a windchime
a bi©ycle bell, methinks

my love for you flows
the ripples, the waves
the fluctuations of the wing of a butterfly
my sorrow attacks me
& holds me by my throat

don't let me sink
to the bottom

(for Esther ROSENBLUM SORGENFREI, policemen, people who live in cold climates, and blue moon. København, Summer 2001)


sans titre

je regarde le ciel
et j'ai envie de pleurer
toi, regarde le ciel -
qu'est-ce que tu sens?

(København, Summer 2001?)


untitled

two men
a green train with a yellow stripe
and the mountain peaks behind them

(Slovakia, August 2001)


længer

længer går det
og længer går det ikke

(Southeastern Europe, August 2001)


entwine yr fingers with mine

i'll be this gift in his possession
i'll be this humbly cracked stone

cry out yr hearts
you muted ones
plunge me into the brine
knead me into a flowerbed

entwine yr fingers with mine

(Missouri?, 8 December 2001)


untitled

i have glasses now
but i'm back working at the same dingy place
where i used to work
the squirrels still scuttle from tree to tree

i've exchanged vows now
and i've seen them crumble
i'm clean shaven again

it's still rare
that the burning salve of tears wells up in the corners of my eyes
i still scrunch up my face & feel that curious mixture of despair
and burning anger

kids still come & play on the play ground
i play that it is real ground too

run, squirrels, run!
chase each other around
like yr predecessors did before you...

the snowflakes still weave downwards
each one a tiny dancing angel
but now i have more respect for them
sitting in awe, watching them appear & disappear
until the silent cold grips my body
and it's time to be on my way

(Ardmore, 27 December 2001)


the woman in the window

part one

every scuttling leaf a defeat
yr grandmother is dying

14 yrs have gone by & what do you have to show for it?
a broken heart

a cold foot
some dirty laundry
a girl downstairs who loves you
because yr her boyfriend's
old friend
a girl upstairs who loves you
because yr her boyfriend's best friend
a hole in the pocket of yr brown pants
that you keep together with a rubber band
a trembling in yr body
a nervous

system

why are you so nervous?
have you read my poems?
do you think i do this to illustrate something?
do you think i do this to make a point?

if so

yr quite mistaken

part two

i retribute nothing.
how to wretch a beaute?
i'm not going to wretch a beaute.
not even a wretched beaute.

give me a cardful
do the whole damn bunch.
cock all yr ozzies & harriets
pour me a drink

give me a cardful
make it open mic
slam it
do a slam

pretention
unwanted spam
prevention
curried ham

laugh yr head off
you might even be the second to do it...

(Lo$ Angele$, 25 January 2002)


magic & loss

he lived
he mourned
he longed

(Lo$ Angele$, 25 January 2002)


eating artichokes

so you sit there
eating artichokes alone
in the kitchen
listening to the crooning of a captivating beauty
who is 6,000 miles away

you've had yr pineapple & coconut ice cream
because it's the most exotic thing you could have this side of a prostitute,
a lady of the night

(Lo$ Angele$, Valentine's Day 2002)


hey - yr in l.a.

i'm surrounded by gorgeous people
hey -
yr in l.a.

the cut of that cheekbone
the rise of those lips
like a sun-drenched dive
off starboard side
into the churning waves
these are life-threatening waters, my son!

(Lo$ Angele$, 19 February 2002)


all poems copyright 2000, 2001,2002 Lars RO. contact him if yr interested in publishing them in print or in reproducing them. thanks.