HAMMERLOCK – Tim Seibles (1)

My parents are not animals. Not anymore. Dad reads National Geographic. Mom jazzercises with Richard Simmons. Sometimes I feel myself salivating. And you can say what you want, but there is movement inside me like some restless, edgy four-legger pacing. My blood thinking. The way animals must think through some set of inner shoves. Like hunger, the belly nudging the brain to go get some chips, get an apple. The way being horny turns you toward the telephone. Human. Listen to a stadium some Sunday afternoon.

Watch the pack keeping on its shoes. Those drumsticks, all those cheeseburgers— some animals were using those chunks of muscle to caiTy themselves around. Some people were playing cards . . . and among the players was a young man who at one point, without saying anything, laid down his cards, left the bar, ran across the deck, and threw himself into the sea.

By the time the boat was stopped . . . the body coiddn’t be found. — Marguerite Duras from The Lover This. This white railing. This something like sorrow, something like a scraped knee— but in your brain. This long wait with whatever’s next like powdered glass on your tongue.

This. These hands. These dead stars shuffling the dark. This ache like ice on a tooth, only all the time, like a time you really needed to say something. This itching scab in the heart. This something like not breathing when you’re breathing. This. This Pepsi jingle, the newspaper, these insects, this evening, that cigarette. What part’a this is hard for you? When a bird flies, he flies— he ain’t showin’ off.

He’s got a job. You don’t see me ‘n’ the flock all fluffed up. Forgetaboutit! Fm tellin’ you— when a bird flies, he’s just wingin’ it. It’s like walkin’ except in the air. People always say, “Oh, I wish I could fly. It’s so graceful, so free!” Look, you hairy heads, you got stuff to do— we got stuff to do. Responsabilidies! You and your bags’a crumbs. You guys see a coup!’a Canada V’s and you think it’s always a vacation, like everything’s a cruise., I got your vacation— right here!

Cruise on this. I mean what’s the big deal? A bird flies, he flies. Awright-awready, I guess it’s a little beautiful, but people walk around, you don’t see us failin’ outta the sky. Your knees bend, your feet sort’a glide— looks beautiful. The point is ya get where ya gotta go. Wings is like feet wit’ feathers. Arms is like wings wit’out feathers. When I get the lift, I’m not flittin’ aroun’ looky, looky— I’m airborne!

Many thanks to the following journals where some of these poems first appeared: Artful Dodge, Callaloo, Calliope, Controlled Burn, Crab Orchard Review, Hanging Loose, Kenyon Review, New Letters, New Texas, Ploughshares, The Progressive, Red Brick Review, Tex!, and The Texas Obserx’er. “Manic: A Conversation with Jimi Hendrix” appeared in the anthology Outsiders, Milkweed Press, 1999 “Marrow” and “Valentine’s Day” appeared in the anthology Dark Eros, St. Martin’s Press, 1997.

“Commercial Break: Road-Road Runner, Uneasy,” “Kerosene,” and “What You Really Want” appeared in the anthology Leaning House Poetry, Volume 1, Leaning House Press, 1996. “Latin” appeared in the anthology A Way Out of No Way, Henry Holt, 1996. I would like to thank Martha Christina of Ampersand Press for her work on the chapbook. Kerosene, in which several of these poems first appeared. Thanks also to Robert Wynne of Mille Grazie Press for his work on the chapbook. Ten Miles An Hour, which featured several works found in this collection.

‘ ‘ Special thanks to the Provincetown Fine Arts Works Center for a fellowship that made much of this work possible. Special thanks also to Renee Olander for all of her help and encouragement. Copyright © 1999 by Tim Seibles Manufactured in the United States of America Published by Cleveland State University Poetry Center 1983 East 24th Street Cleveland, OH 44115-2440 ISBN 1-880834-45-6 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-72725 The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with stale tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

CONTENTS I CHECK OUTSIDE / 3 WHAT BUGS BUNNY SAID TO RED RIDING HOOD / 5 HARDIE / 7 THE CAPS ON BACKWARD / \0 J FROM THE DIARY OF QUAI CHANG CANE / 12 ON BEING MISTAKEN / 17 COMMERCIAL BREAK: ROAD-RUNNER, UNEASY / 19 WHAT THE WIND SAYS / 23 NEVER DAYTIME / 25 THE APPLECAKE / 28 II THE HERD / 33 THE CASE / 36 THE STUPID / 38 BILLY JACK, SERVING 25 TO LIFE / 40 NOT ANYMORE / 44 THIS IS THE REASON / 46 HANK THE GULL / 47 ABOUT FREEDOM / 49 OUTTAKES FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH MALCOLM X / 52 YOU / 59 Ill MARROW / 63 PALABRAS / 64 FOUR TAKES OF A SIMILAR SITUATION / 67^ RUSH / 70 VALENTINE’S DAY / 71 SUMMER / 74 LIFE ACCORDING TO REGGIE / 75 LATIN / 77 CULTURE/ 80 MANIC: A CONVERSATION WITH ]IM1 HENDRIX / 83 IV RECOGNIZED/ 91 KEROSENE / 93 .

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 0ff9a618ebe25051
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 4,347,760 bytes (4.146 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 1880834456
• Pages: 133
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 84.22 minutes
• Total Words: 16,844
• Total Characters: 93,263
• Average Words per Page: 126.65
• Average Characters per Page: 701.23

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