& eel grass dragon.

LITHUANIAN DOLLS /CONSULATE FRONT

These eyes of dolls seem leaden stones
not canisters of the Faith
but cannon-balls engraved
in tome-like stares so much
waxen shapes, these dust cloths
& spidery webs.

Dolls with eyes stare
lidless & forlorn
such eyes are cracks
minden shapes or basement eves
hogans of the human form.
I'm interested in the priapic
silence of such dolls--their
indolent aura in time
one long amber twilight
& the results are in
the shadows have produced twins
...hazy silhouettes rough-housing
in the dark, come passing headlights
although the stampede of noises
affects nought.

Ticker-tape & collage
in quick thick barrage
these lonesome dolls
slouching half-pinned
in their stalls--
a cat transcends crouching his spine
then pelvic thrusts and tableaux change.

People are divisive, dolls less so.
the dolls know nothing of that.

BEGIN AND BEGUILE

If brains be gables & minds, say, the shutters
in a derelict New England Mansion
then intuition is in the
eaves & casements
the well-springs seeping into turrets & cupolas
of all other nether spaces.

These big, wide entrances are ourselves in all their splendor,
notwithstanding the Winchester Mansions
or Vanderbilt Estates where our
very personalities are laid bare
see antics give rise to attics
feed in onto themselves
where the Astor's of our alter-egos
are resplendent in rich pride of self
longing to manifest in lavish architecture
so redolent of wealth
yet see-sawing in, squabbling
their thread-bare servant quarters
where murderous passions
bare dingy walls and where stained,
yellowing wallpaper is harbinger to
further heart-felt quarrels &
what is unspeakable, gilded and more.
Manifold and many, recant and lament. Repent.

FIRE BUSH

If flies be dragons
and they may you know.
In large desiccated brambles
where wasps go
involuntary blue-green coelacanths
these Devil's Darning Needles
wedge in Flying Circuses
frame pale diaphanous wet green sky
as shooting columns
twig and Rock Face.

There, fire-bush
entrance scrapes paler wax
green fronds then
Blue Holes into canopies
thru the stars.

SKOOTEMATTA

Sheldrake, a magician
--the mandrake
a mythic plant whose shriek
drove listeners wild....
this lake, Sheldrake
and its