Poetry: Mark Young

Mark Young

The calliope

comes down the gang-

plank of the riverboat,

boasting to the waiting 

reporters that she considers 

herself to be the inventor 

of steampunk — or, at 

least, the precursor there-

of. Then she goes striding 

through the lanes of Lon-

don, combat boots at the 

ready, pipes pierced with 

tethering rings or else en-

closed within vambraces, 

shouting at anyone that 

dares get in her way. All

the signs of being raised

as per the ABC of this type

of life — anal, banal, canal.

***

To / bring clarity / to the analysis

                                           Piove, governo ladro!

The online component of the 

tongue of the chameleon is 

arranged along a spectrum so

that electrical stimulation will 

provoke an extreme example 

of quick energy release every 

time personalized medicine or 

an example of a pangram is 

trailed in front of an eye. It's 

not a fear of what might happen; 

rather a reaction to the intro-

duction of capitalism as the 

State's default economic system 

& the uncertainty it may bring.

***

 

Hallucinations Procrastinate Amongst Themselves

The choir began the next hymn. Hundreds 

of voices. A simple experiment in social 

media — or should have been. Instead, 

they started to see things hovering around 

them, argued amongst themselves as to 

what they might be, couldn't bring any 

decision on identity to a conclusion. At 

least, not at that moment. Then couldn't 

agree on what the following hymn should be. 

The reluctance to come to a decision spilled

over to the apparitions. Stay or go? Pack up

the ectoplasm or let it congeal in the choir 

stalls? But then, what to do about the

elephant hiding in the corner of the room?

***

Known as 'the tree man'

If you drive too slowly, remember 

the human component within your 

organization. We spend far more 

per person on health care than any 

other country, learning to sleep & 

wake at the same time each day. I 

lace up my trainers, head out the 

door, borrowing from a new part-

nership with Baroque drama that

is assisted by mimetic translation 

practices. At some random point, 

we sense either the doldrums or 

an awkward encounter with a bio-

battery facing a massive marketing

effort in a compressed timeframe.

***

Reckless spending

The movement of the minute hand

is semi-lucid, &, at this time of the

year, appears to happen coincident 

with those errors of signaling & 

perception found in the early 

stages of the evolution of language. 

It's an inherently vague notion; but 

for anyone involved in collective 

rhythmic labor it presents as a 

game theory problem, where some

single decision must be made that

aligns with the ebb & flow of tides.

***

Bio: Mark Young was born in Aotearoa / New Zealand but now lives in a small town in North Queensland in Australia. His most recent book is a downloadable pdf prompted by the Cantos of Ezra Pound, XXXX CENTONES, available from sandy press — https://www.sandy-press.com/

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Setu, April 2023