AN ODE TO TOMMASO...

YO!...YO!...HERE'S A LITTLE SOMETHING, SOMETHING IN MEMORY OF A GREAT POET, WE ALL KNEW & LOVED SOO MUCH...PEACE!
-"OBSIDIAN!!!"


Tomaso
by "OBSIDIAN!!!" [Excerp from "This Eye of Mine" c. 2207]



He was as thin
As a rail...
Wore dark shades-never drank
Skin-tight pants
and spurs on his boots
Spoke poetry
And won poetry slams
At the Nuyoricans a dozen
Times in a row
to boot-


1st saw the cat in a poetry
reading hosted by Viviana
Down in a basement flat
In the 1990's or so
Spoke about "they buried her..."
Now, they buried him
Without fanfare and
Waving flags
He was no Vet like me
-just a Vet
Of the spoken word

"JUST BECAUSE I DREAM, DOES IT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT WHEN I'M AWAKE...AND I'M TALKING TO YOU THAT YOU'RE REALLY REAL?"...

SOULESS
by "OBSIDIAN!!!" [Excerp from "This Eye of Mine"c. 2007]

lightning strikes
and you gasp as
i reach out for your
frightened hand
flesh touches flesh

-SOULESS

irises must meet like
coliding nebulea
but we are still

-SOULESS

just breath escaping
from opened mouth

-SOULESS

oxygen carbon monoxide

-SOULESS

brainwaves electro-magnetic static

-SOULESS

chemical synapses released
and fired

-SOULESS

dark thoughts bright
dream-scapes

-SOULESS

cells dividing into cells
molecules from molecules

-SOULESS

electrons spinning around
atoms combining atoms

-SOULESS

lightning strikes and
again you gasp
i reach out for your
frightened hand
flesh touches flesh
but now i have become
just like you

-

DRINK UP!...

THIS ONE IS FOR ALL MY BATTLE-BUDDIES...WHOM I WENT THROUGH ARMY BASIC & A.I.T. WITH...IN FORT BENNING...BACK IN THE DAZE...SOME OF WHOM I REALIZE MAY NOT HAVE MADE IT BACK FROM IRAQ...LONG LIVE BRAVO COMPANY 119, SANDHILL!..."ROCK STEADY, HOOOOAAAAAHHH!!!"...

IRAQ A TOAST

By "OBSIDIAN!!!" [Excerpt from "This Eye of Mine" c.2007]


Sing!


One for the city

For the second time

Was sacked!


One for the Gunny

When we lefted him

In Iraq!


One for the Army Ranger

Shot him in the back!


One for the tyrant

When we hung him

From a rack!


One for the Private

Who is never

Coming back!


One for the oldest

River full-front-attack! *


*[The poem is sung thrice-times over. The first is shouted, the second is spoken, and the last is to be solemnly whispered, ending with:]


-Attack

-"Attack!"

JUST BECAUSE I'M HOMELESS DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT I'M DUMB...

"Well, he was a homeless man who convinced me he was a poet...& writer, who wrote Broadway plays...and what not..."
-"OBSIDIAN!!!"

Mr. James York Talked
by "OBSIDIAN!!!" [Excerpt from "Zen is Now" c. 1991]



Mr. James York talked
Of cabarets and Broadway lights
Of syncopated music and champagne nights

Mr. James York talked of twelve drummers drumming
Floodlights
Roll’em!
Laurence Fishburnes’ coming
Of Porgy and Bess
Males burlesque
Lisa Minelli’s cabaret
Of stage hands fumbling
Wild Irish Rose…
Tumbling
Thou Swell
Oh, what the hell
Everyone has their day

Mr. James York talked
Of stag props settings
Of bourgeoisies toasting
Hot hor d’oeuvres roasting
Fund raising menageries
Of Oscar Awards betting
Production managers sweating
Limousines and cigarette machines
Smokescreens
Ben Verenes!
Magazines
Write-ups in the headlines the next day

Mr. James York talked of spunk
Pzaz!
All That Jazz
Alice through the looking smoke-stained-glass of wine
Chorus lines
“Brother, can you spare a dime, so I can attend the Tony Awards
With fancy broads?”
Standing OV’s
Prime time TV’s
Commercial breaks and long applauds

Mr. James York talked
Of Grand Central dancing
Commuters romancing
Schedule board flips
Lullabies
Round trips
Steam engine
Waltz
Two step
Halts
Forty Second Street
All aboard!
Conductor snaps the cord
Movie scene
It’s Fisher King!
Whirling couples on a movies screen
Slight of hand
It’s just a dream
Mug’s dry
Smarts the eye, ya know what I mean?

When Mr. James York talks
I have to take a walk
‘Cause we can talk our lives away
Bottle’s passed
Eyes at half-mast
Life’s a blast!
What else can I say?
Everyone has their day
Everyone has their day…

TRAVELING FROM THE WEST TO THE EAST...

REMEMBRANCE
by "OBSIDIAN!!!" [Excerpt from "Zen is Now" c. 1995]



Out of a thick leach like
clot of blood we created
you and set you on high
in a garden paradise
over flowing with streams of
delight you use to sigh
until you grew proud
and fell under the trap of Iblis
so down we hurled you to
the earth until the hour of
your release



and unto us shall be your return
and unto us shall be your return

to gardens of bliss or
the flames of hell to burn
and have we not set parables
for you to discern in the
signs of the sun and the moon
and the canopy of stars
galaxies spinning in vast
regions of space so far
apart have your hearts grown
cold from our reminders

and unto us shall be your return
and unto us shall be your return

and now you cannot
even recall the day
when we brought you all
forth to swear
an unbreakable covenant
and now you cannot even recall
the searing, flickering light
that we caused you all to see
but in the end is your return to us

in the end is your return
to me
to recall all that you have
spent and all that you have
stored
and have we not sent
down to you rain
sweeping the fertile lands
and the shores with our mercy
after the warning flashing like
angry arrows of light
in the expanse so bright while
the thunder roared

and have we not punished
some of you with shameless wealth
and abundant riches and children
and good health only to consume
you on that day when neither
friend nor foe shall avail you
not

but unto us shall be your return
but unto us shall be your return

to gardens of fig trees or
the flames of hell to burn
and on that day when we bring you forth
in crowds to receive all that you
have earned and no injustice shall
we repay you for all that you use
to say or do

so when the land is dark
and the slumber’s deep and
from deathlike sleep we awaken
you to behold the unyielding
light of dawn
give thanks for the day you were born

for unto us shall be your return
for unto us shall be your return
to gardens of delight or to the
flames of hell to burn
but unto us shall be your return
unto us shall be your return…

FROM THE WOMB TO THE TOMB!...

YO...YO...YO!!! MAYBE SIGMUND FREUD WAS ON 2 SOMETHING...WHEN HE SUGGESTED THAT A MAN IS STILL SEARCHING FOR HIS MOMMY...WHEN HE'S RAPP'IN TO A FINE WOMAN-AFTERALLS! [i dunno i'm just a poet]...

Peaceful Implosion
by "OBSIDIAN!!!" [Excerp from "Zen is Now" c. 1995]



Oh, precious mother, erase
my name and return me back
into the womb from whence
i came

Oh, precious mother, erase
my name and return me back
into the womb from whence
i came

I search for you again and
again, but every womb that
i enter becomes for me a
tomb and a bane

Oh, precious mother, erase
my name and return me back
into the womb from whence
i came

Other women’s profile’s in
style, while their smiles
beguile, but your embryonic
fluids used to embrace me
and sooth me like the Nile

Oh, precious mother, erase
my name and return me back
into the womb from whence
i came

Just what is it that i
seek in this charade?
why, it’s the maternal cry
that my mother made when
she pushed me out through
that tunnel of light
i want to hear that sound rise
from within you tonight
i want to hear that cry
and I want to set you free
i want you to Be!
born again, just like I
seek to be

Oh, precious mother, erase
my name and return me back
into the womb from whence
i came

For other women i walk the
street to some ancient beat,
but now i wish to retreat to
the memory of the embryo,
and the soft beating of your
heart, ‘cause from you i’ve
been so torn apart

Oh, precious mother, erase
my name and return me
back into the womb from whence
i came

Oh, precious mother, erase
my name and return me
back into the womb from whence
i came

The Holy Aged

By "OBSIDIAN!!!" [Excerpt from "Zen is Now" c. 1990]



Out of the thick black smoke of a tempestuous fire!
I
Was born
Ah, long ago, when the universe was young
And the newborn lamps yawned within the cosmic throng
Up! Up! Into the constellation's clearing
Down, down, into the world
I
Was thrown
I
Woke up to the world in a flood of lights
Crying without a name
I
Walk through the crowded streets of mankind dying
Naked, but yet clothed in shame. When
I
Look up to the stars at night
I see
Stars spread out into infinity
And the dome of a lonely universe enshrouding me. If
I
Spread my arms out
I
Would fly, high over the expanse of a cloudless sky
High over the depths of a fathomless sea
High over the smog of a crowded city street
Up! Up! Into the zodiacs burning
High over the dome of the universes turning. And as
I
View the scene while my stomach's churning
I
Consider all I've done and who
I AM

LEARN 2 BLINK 1 EYE AT A TIME...

The Man Next Door
by "OBSIDIAN!!!" [Excerpt from "Zen is Now" c. 1999]



He had a five o’clock shadow, like a
Hobo, crossing the street he’d go
With a jones to the nearby
Liquor store,
Looking to and fro, like a
Milkman, leaving your wife’s house
While you wiled the hours away
Shoveling your neighbor’s snow.
And you know he’ll be back for more.
Wanna bet?
See, it’s like pulling a drag until
You feel the heat of the fire in the
Butt of a cigarette.

Hanging out in smoke filled bars
Peeping through the lenses of
Shot glasses.
Eyes glittering like stars at
The passes of women’s asses.

‘Cause he’s the man next door,
The gigolo, the whore,
And when he hits your wife again
It’s gonna be like state’s secret;
Unknown, as she latches the
Chain lock to the front door,
In the a.m., at a quarter to four.

When it happens again, you’ll
Never know. Frankly, I think
It’s rude to interrupt somebody’s
Private Idaho.

You drive home in a
Downpour, hydroplaning in the rain.
You slip the key in the
Front door and once again
Pour yourself another gin and tonic
To erase the stain.
You plant another mechanical kiss
On your wife’s puckered lips and
Wonder why it tastes a little salty.
Nah!
But maybe…

You like to brag aloud at parties
About your family photos,
But don’t notice the missing
Link in the family tree.
-But you always wondered to yourself quietly,
“Why don’t that boy look
Like me?”

Yeah, ‘cause he’s the man
Next door, the gigolo, the whore,
And when he hits your wife
Again it’s gonna be like
State secrets; unknown,
While she latches the chain lock
To the front door, in the a.m.,
At a quarter to four.

THE ETERNAL DAMNATION OF THE EMPTINESS OF ME...

THE EMPTY!

by "OBSIDIAN!!!" c. 1999

It is our duty
to be EMPTIED!…
stone vase skeletal
skull broken over gnarly bone
blood drenched OBSIDIAN
sun dialed altars…
skin blistered cracks in stone crevices
that open portals to
velvet light…

It is our duty
to be EMPTIED!…
galaxies are dark
light in dark regions
of time
the unfurling of our
chaotic minds brings forth
nightmares beginning by day and that
never ends…

It is our duty
to die by blade
before firm breast entices us
to shed precious semen
into the sand…

Death!
and light
and blade
and stone
and blood
and crevices
and embraces what might be
the opening of a
door
and rattles
and altars
and velvet
light!
and semen
and sand
and galaxies
and days without end
and time
unfurling into the vast open chi
and regions of
nothingness…
pouring into the black
open sea…

It is our duty to see
it is our duty to be
EMPTIED!…

ZEN IS NOW
By Daniel H. Canada Jr. "OBSIDIAN!!!" [Excerpt from "Zen is Now" c. 1999]






Diminished

Blink my eyes
Caught you staring
Open wide
Sunlight’s glaring
Shun the world
Reap no fruitage
Peace at last
Found my courage
Shut my eyes
Sleep and slumber
Fitful dreams
Draw me under
My own world
Strange and vivid
Flashes of time
Of once I lived in
Open wide
Daylight’s pressing
Tarry now
No concession
Time warps lapsed
No remaining
Time warps lapsed
No complaining
Start at the end
Begin at the finish
No matter how we strive
We’re still
Diminished…