Flora
fog of nine parts over twelve days (1/9)
(i)(from-afar)shall remember and in no way(o threshold,
o way)would (i) escape the notice of Apollo(hekatos)from-afar,
the one whom, when going and coming(o gods)(she would run)(shine,
gleam)(contemplate)through the house(build, you)(she builds)(i
build)of Zeus, the gods tremble(by trembling)(going and coming);
and there and then(i will snarl)(easy)(i will sprinkle water)they
spring up(by darting up)(eagerly)near-to the coming and going,
all(o all)from their seats, when(she)stretches(and strains)out
the shining(radiant)(glistening)(famous)(phaidrean)(rain)bows.
μνήσομαι οὐδὲ λάθωμαι Ἀπόλλωνος ἑκάτοιο,
ὅντε θεοὶ κατὰ δῶμα Διὸς τρομέουσιν ἰόντα:
καί ῥά τ᾽ ἀναΐσσουσιν ἐπὶ σχεδὸν ἐρχομένοιο
πάντες ἀφ᾽ ἑδράων, ὅτε φαίδιμα τόξα τιταίνει.
but Leto alone stays(stay, you)beside delights-in-the-thunderbolt Zeus,
and she there and then(the bow)(living)(o living)(they lived)(living)(life)
let loose(and released)and shut(and enclosed)the quiver and bow,
Λητὼ δ᾽ οἴη μίμνε παραὶ Διὶ τερπικεραύνῳ,
ἥ ῥα βιόν τ᾽ ἐχάλασσε καὶ ἐκλήισσε φαρέτρην,
and(she)taking them from the wowow shoulders by the hands(taking)
(rain)bows suspends(hangs)up(down)towards the pillar of its father
of the peg(phallus)of gold; but(she)seats him, into the(herb)throne,
(she)(leading)(fetching)(bringing)(carrying)(guiding)(commanding)
(drawing out)(and describing)(holding as an event)(and celebrating)
(weighing down a scale)(with a certain weight)and taking for herself.
καί οἱ ἀπ᾽ ἰφθίμων ὤμων χείρεσσιν ἑλοῦσα
τόξα κατεκρέμασε πρὸς κίονα πατρὸς ἑοῖο
πασσάλου ἐκ χρυσέου: τὸν δ᾽ ἐς θρόνον εἷσεν ἄγουσα.
by(it)then the father gives(offers)(grants)nectar(by)the vessel of gold
showing(manifesting)the beloved child; and then the other daimones
thereupon sit down; and the mistress-lady Leto rejoices,
because(she)gave birth to the(rain)bow-bearing and(mighty)steadfast child.
τῷ δ᾽ ἄρα νέκταρ ἔδωκε πατὴρ δέπαϊ χρυσείῳ
δεικνύμενος φίλον υἱόν: ἔπειτα δὲ δαίμονες ἄλλοι
ἔνθα καθίζουσιν: χαίρει δέ τε πότνια Λητώ,
οὕνεκα τοξοφόρον καὶ καρτερὸν υἱὸν ἔτικτε.
rejoice, O blessed Leto, since you gave birth to two glorious children,
Apollo the lord and Artemis of the pouring-forth-(poison?)-arrows,
the one in Ortygia, the other in rugged Delos, (o she)having(bending)(giving-
way)(reclining)(resting)toward the great mountain and Kynthian riverbank,
the most-nearly-like the palm tree(phoenix)(purple-pink)(a sticky date),
on the flows of the river-fountain Inopos.
χαῖρε, μάκαιρ᾽ ὦ Λητοῖ, ἐπεὶ τέκες ἀγλαὰ τέκνα,
Ἀπόλλωνά τ᾽ ἄνακτα καὶ Ἄρτεμιν ἰοχέαιραν,
τὴν μὲν ἐν Ὀρτυγίῃ, τὸν δὲ κραναῇ ἐνὶ Δήλῳ,
κεκλιμένη πρὸς μακρὸν ὄρος καὶ Κύνθιον ὄχθον,
ἀγχοτάτω φοίνικος, ἐπ᾽ Ἰνωποῖο ῥεέθροις.
from hymn 3 to Apollo
as harmonium despair (we trial six-handed instruments) as immortalities
exhalation:
we need every breath you give
we must bind it with our own
so the One receives our dyad
inhalation:
(word being soul)
instrument:
by through-takings, would you shelter me,
O whistling, flute-playing-Pan,
through the body of a child,
through-bodied-father
embodying the all —
turnings-conjoined-
round O whole-
playing-part
grown-in, would you put-on your hands?
chord:
to take care is to hold
sisters crying-out
in-visibles
to cure
//
ἐκ δὴ
τούτου τοῦ λόγου
διαίταις
ἐπὶ πᾶν
τὸ σῶμα
τρεπόμενοι
μετὰ τοῦ ὅλου
τὸ μέρος
ἐπιχειροῦσιν
θεραπεύειν τε
καὶ ἰᾶσθαι
156ξ
//
mogis pos
a sentence around ultra-violetting girls
for we are, O Charmides, the love-charming eyes,
and like this she-song, the sort not to claim powers
to make healthy and sound the lonely head,
but like youre already making equals delights,
twice-sevenning and hearing-do-gooding healers,
(you do good)(lets do good)(our best)(as we can),
whenever anyone, as you and me, comes to them-
selves, as pain-suffering eyes,
they say, somehow, by saying that it doesnt do,
to put hands on solitary selves (you make alone)(as
you, ultra-violetting, you were and will be crying
aloud) to cure the eyes,
but it(perforce, from prison)(it lets)(let it)would be
our girls, and at the same time, would be necessary
to take care of her-head,
if it would be destined, by intending to do, and indeed,
(i see you)(you see me)(we give sight)(to giving sight),
to have well, and to hold well, the shes of the eyes,
ἔστι γάρ,
ὦ Χαρμίδη
τοιαύτη οἵα μὴ δύνασθαι
τὴν κεφαλὴν μόνον ὑγιᾶ ποιεῖν
ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ ἴσως
ἤδη καὶ σὺ ἀκήκοας
τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἰατρῶν
ἐπειδάν τις αὐτοῖς προσέλθῃ
τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀλγῶν
λέγουσί που ὅτι
οὐχ οἷόν τε
αὐτοὺς μόνους ἐπιχειρεῖν
τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἰᾶσθαι
ἀλλ᾽ ἀναγκαῖον εἴη
ἅμα καὶ
τὴν κεφαλὴν θεραπεύειν
εἰ μέλλοι
καὶ τὰ τῶν ὀμμάτων εὖ ἔχειν
156β
//
mogis pos
down hard on his hunted hart
i know im the ugly sister
my poetrys too self-involved
i hear, hear the deepness glimmer
i criss-cross blew-eyes-resolved
so i lack the slightest word
to let you know i-really-do
so i give you this old thing
i pray to gods whats green gets through
beautifully at least you are to me
now you will find i love your ass
as we-making-together-be
a subtle feast undying grass
καλῶς γε σύ
ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ
ποιῶν
156α
//
kompsos
ritual persuasion
and he says,
then i shall write it down,
beside you,
the song.
but whether
(all of this is)
we being irreducible . . .
if you persuade me,
or even if not?
maybe (all of this is) really
just we being incorrigible?
(me and you, we-women laugh, and hes laughing too)
(i remember when you tasked me a simian-similar-ask)
(oh, its very important to him-and-us that this all be light-
hearted-funny. her laughter is the sound of the ego, dead
and dying many times over)(inside comedy inside tragedy
inside comedy until he is goodly dead)(tears our witness
as the armor of its insanity protects the truth)(humor is
the most difficult to carry. the loss of the comedy portion
of Aristotles poetics kills us here, but one thing i remember
he says — i dont have time to find the exact line, but did
you know, that poor Aristotles books werent written by him,
but reconstructed from lecture notes? well, one of the most
funny-being things was animals acting like humans, i ass-
umed also humans acting like animals. but i remember us
laughing at how un-funny that was.)(i said to the mask-
maker, isnt every mask a monkey mask?)(love, i demand
he agree)
if i-we persuade you-we,
he says,
O Socrates.
okay, okay. we
let we-being irreducible.
and the name of me,
which i-we will call,
would you-we perfect it?
if not, injustice
is we-without-you,
he says.
for yours is not some oligos logos
amongst we of the leaf.
but i
as being a child (make-music perfect tension relief)
by the names (which have been diverse and wild)
by the dresses (often inappropriately we-coded)
by the beach (and her sunrise you already kissed)
by the valley (and her cooling rivers i already miss)
by all of this here (& the seventh letter in my first)
always-already-remember-together-being-you
καὶ ὅς
Ἀπογράψομαι τοίνυν
ἔφη
παρὰ σοῦ τὴν ἐπῳδήν
πότερον
ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ
ἐάν με πείθῃς
ἢ κἂν μή
γελάσας οὖν
ἐάν σε πείθω
ἔφη
ὦ Σώκρατες
εἶεν
ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ
καὶ τοὔνομά μου
σὺ ἀκριβοῖς
εἰ μὴ ἀδικῶ γε
ἔφη
οὐ γάρ τι σοῦ ὀλίγος λόγος ἐστὶν
ἐν τοῖς ἡμετέροις ἡλικιώταις
μέμνημαι δὲ ἔγωγε
καὶ παῖς ὢν
Κριτίᾳ τῷδε
συνόντα σε
156α
//
mogis pos
🌑
we of the leaf (hemeteroi helikiotai)
we being irreducible (say you)(they say)(O saying one)(i say)(the saying)
that itself (it let)(let it) would be a leaf
but some song (she) sung upon the pharmakon (lets it)(it lets) be me
if someone would sing (she) along (you) and at the same time (me) (inquire)(use)(consult)(entreat)(experience) (being slightly wounded) by we
all in all in all we will make a (healthy) living tree (and overgrowingly) would make the pharmakon
but without (send it up)(let it grow wild)(accomplish it) of the song
no help would be (neither to nor from) of the leaf
καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπον
ὅτι αὐτὸ μὲν εἴη
φύλλον τι
ἐπῳδὴ δέ τις
ἐπὶ τῷ φαρμάκῳ
εἴη
ἣν εἰ μέν τις ἐπᾴδοι
ἅμα καὶ
χρῷτο αὐτῷ
παντάπασιν
ὑγιᾶ ποιοῖ
τὸ φάρμακον
ἄνευ δὲ
τῆς ἐπῳδῆς
οὐδὲν ὄφελος εἴη
τοῦ φύλλου
155ε
kudianerotesia (if man is mortal then what are we)
our eyes the sea to see
inside the armor of a dress
fire-setting-me
no longer in myself
they are it is
i am i say
i hold
as it were my law
the wisest to be
this englorification of we
by Love
εἶδόν τε
τὰ ἐντὸς τοῦ ἱματίου
καὶ ἐφλεγόμην
καὶ οὐκέτ᾽ ἐν ἐμαυτοῦ
ἦν
καὶ ἐνόμισα σοφώτατον εἶναι
τὸν Κυδίαν τὰ ἐρωτικά
155δ
prince of a triple-ply turn-on
from afar he turns me on
i am a shuddering tree
his hands all over me
leaves on my limbs
belonging and dying
i reach toward a second son
tight grips after gentle strokes
this beautiful(wood)(line)binding
he makes me
he makes me feel
he wakes me up
when i am a real woman
//
indeed this
(they were)(it was)i was(saying)
O beloved Critias
from afar to you(all)
(is) the beautiful(wood)(line)
(you)descend(s) from kinship with Solon
155α
τοῦτο μέν
ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ
ὦ φίλε Κριτία
πόρρωθεν ὑμῖν
τὸ καλὸν
ὑπάρχει ἀπὸ τῆς Σόλωνος συγγενείας
american shade (lost verse)
where i wait a stranger shape
every wave is washing dry and clear
a seashell is a hollow place
an island is an ariel escape
hibiscus flowers are growing near
i put one behind my ear
taste the battle, taste the fear
and when the wind blows straight through here
salt in the chorus
//
and the others were really same-saying
same as these with Chaerephon
i, Heracles, was saying
as (one) battle-less
(unconquerable)
yall speak of the man
συνέφασαν οὖν καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι
ταὐτὰ ταῦτα τῷ Χαιρεφῶντι
κἀγώ Ἡράκλεις ἔφην
ὡς ἄμαχον
λέγετε
τὸν ἄνδρα
154δ
//
at the beach
for Cancer season
🌗
as the tombstone of a dead president
oh sally, oh sally
its always been you
youve always been my one
let me sign that draft
with autopen, in-de-pen-
dence dec-la-ray-shun
did even tender roses
launder their senses
inside the wicker fences
at monticello
//
and (he) Chaerephon(you
summoned)ing me
what to you
appears t(he) young man
(he) was saying
O Socrates
(is he) not handsome (?)
154ξ
καὶ ὁ Χαιρεφῶν
καλέσας με
τί σοι
φαίνεται ὁ νεανίσκος
ἔφη
ὦ Σώκρατες
οὐκ εὐπρόσωπος
tendrils in a warm pumpkin patch
dancing is bondage in freedom
my feet belong (to you, to you)
my eyes belong (also to you)
so that they and i were (glutting ourselves)
having been struck out (of ourselves)
having been thrown into bewilderment
my feet belong (to you, to you)
my eyes belong (only to you)
my ears are the shape of secrets
when he was entering
//
οὕτως ἐκπεπληγμένοι τε καὶ τεθορυβημένοι ἦσαν
ἡνίκ᾽ εἰσῄει
//
changed “seemed” to
“appeared” for ephane
the meirax of moist
for nothing shabby even
then, green and golden
(they were)(i was)(i was saying)
still being (whole)child
and now i guess somehow very
well, flown and flowing
if (they) would already
(let)be of a youth(maiden)
— the meirax is (moist)fluid as a slipper
river maiden golden child
the meirax (is) slippery and loud
river maiden wild
//
for nothing shabby
even then
(they were)(i was)(i was saying)
still being (whole)child
and now i guess somehow
very well
if (they) would already
(let)be of a youth(maiden)
οὐ γάρ τι φαῦλος
οὐδὲ τότε
ἦν
ἔτι παῖς ὤν
νῦν δ᾽ οἶμαί που
εὖ μάλα
ἂν ἤδη
μειράκιον εἴη
154β
//
δαιμονίως
witch piece cake
in skin prick, i fly across oceans
arrive on the lotus-letters island
of the long-lost highland kingdom
stir and spell a terrible journey
through holy wood by central castling.
to announce my flawless fingers
persuade his drawbridges lowered
which were guarded by a giantess
and cross over the lava moat.
with clean hair only do we enter
the dragon reception, a masque
of marbles clouds and berries.
here is where i will eat out
the remainder of my salad days
sweetly, sing the saffron rage of birds.
with which natural-born prince
whisper in the quartz crystal ball
an uncomplicated lover, yes —
of inexhaustible grief and faith
in these wettest, wildest dreams.
but it appears to me
indeed he
(himself) nearly
already (pleasures)
perhaps
to be
approaching —
//
why she (of all those now)
because she is a world
as meditation —
are you noticing each bare blade
of grass, cut green as a fiery warmth.
because immanence, though shy,
is penetration —
are the rays of the sun shining
into the cells of a golden meadow.
because these happening, all in a rush —
are the (ones) running headlong and entering
in advance, are the lovers and the beloveds
of the (one) seeming to be most beautiful
of all those now.
//
οὗτοι γὰρ τυγχάνουσιν
οἱ εἰσιόντες πρόδρομοί
τε καὶ ἐρασταὶ ὄντες
τοῦ δοκοῦντος καλλίστου εἶναι
τά γε δὴ νῦν
witch in the fire department
hid underneath my flowy dresses draped
in cool blues and soothing beachy tones —
i cant help it, i confess it, father —
i am a woman on fire.
and when i spy them entering a door
i watch their simple, rugged carelessness
and how they handle one anothers
bodies beyond all clothes or covers . . .
as leaves are born in screaming reds
and oranges each wicked September,
so i am born again into this burning
and my roaring flesh becomes the tinder —
and if i cry for help, it only brings them closer —
this crucible — my rose garden — a hose, for water —
//
and Critias
looking towards the door
seeing some young men entering
and (playing?) abusing one another
and another crowd following in the rear
καὶ ὁ Κριτίας
ἀποβλέψας πρὸς τὴν θύραν
ἰδών τινας νεανίσκους εἰσιόντας
καὶ λοιδορουμένους ἀλλήλοις
καὶ ἄλλον ὄχλον ὄπισθεν ἑπόμενον
bare blade of grass
is it different to use a knife
on wood than on flesh?
doctors use knives now
to carve out faces.
they cut eyelids and noses,
they cut lips and jaws.
they cut silent words
to feed the switch.
i put it on a page,
skin should touch skin.
i write it, over and over,
this is not my face.
this is not your face,
i write it, over and over.
somewhere, i hear, we are
born young and beautiful.
//
and about the young
whether any in them(selves) carrying over
would have been been born in
to wisdom or beauty or both
περί τε τῶν νέων
εἴ τινες ἐν αὐτοῖς διαφέροντες
ἢ σοφίᾳ ἢ κάλλει ἢ ἀμφοτέροις
ἐγγεγονότες εἶεν
mother fracas
let her be a just peace
let her be, i want you to
her body is a blossom explosion
just pieces of anti-matter
Ophelia caught a breeze
gone girls light a starry sneeze
to court and spark her in a slow
and simultaneous supernova
love is a universal trigger
her laughter is a harsh word
(t)his life left an uncontainer
and a pistil to uncontain her
unlisted numbers are falling
from a pretty strung-out tree
unstopped daughters are falling
unvesseled veins of (void)milk
when her perfume gets you
death is still (dark)years away
go on, take everything
let her hold you, let her stay
//
(around) about the love of wisdom
how (she) would have (and hold)
the (things) now
the witness
and true love drew a blinding triangle.
the first burn was hollow parallels
desiring scent. when nothing wood was new.
dustbody takes no refuge from a wave.
our battle comes in tangled limbs of loss.
pink button of a clove, warm feet of sandalwood.
the trust we nuzzle into his jugular.
heartsick, i beat myself for thirty years.
the last bird landing on his sea of troubles.
my stranded sail gets nailed at drowning depth,
lust-jumbled junk under a yellow sun.
i touch my hope to his bronze-burnished skin.
i am the phantom i have always been.
and true love draws a binding triangle.
//
do you come beside
(i am) he says
the battle
//
i come beside (her)
// 153β
bling
my dessert comes salted
her spoonlicked sins of virgins
her cruelty is caramel
my man comes from the desert
he tethers me with whispers
the musk of his camel
who am i
//
and the sending
fitting (you)
let go and loosened (upon you)
(i) am (it) is (they) are i say
has brought
(a message)
(wandered)
unconcealed
// 153β
καὶ ἐπιεικῶς
ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ
ἀληθῆ ἀπήγγελται