Ex Libris Kirkland

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First Written 2008
Genre Poetry
Origin US
Publisher Knopf
ISBN-10 0307267636
ISBN-13 978-0307267634
My Copy Hardback with dustjacket, new printing
First Read May 27, 2008

The One-Strand River



. . .

Occasional volcanoes in the parlor, yawn. Arterial
Blood weeping the walls, rising above the ankles
Curdles in the drains and pupils. Ad nauseam! It kills
Sensation in the extremities. And don't come off all teary

On me, now. No more Thus Spake Zarathustra. No big titanium yurt
Over heaven. No more swoopy blue yondering wing-magics--
That's finished. We don't feel for thingamajigs
Anymore. Clear your desk. And tell the engineer he's fired.

Quoted on October 3, 2011

. . . They live in a hell of marvels: fierce,
Fully automated joys.

The prowess of their engineers
Is justly fabled. They've leapt to the nearest
Lamps of night. Such chasms spanned!--
Too black for all but their blindest seers.

Their warrior class, insufficiently manned,
Is mad, responsive, and under command.
Their weapon of choice is the toggle switch.
Be watchful. They kill with either hand.

Quoted on October 3, 2011

Of course they'd need an
Omnipotent god. Look whom
He'd have to pardon.

Quoted on October 3, 2011


Ex Libris Kirkland is a super-self-absorbed reading journal made by Matt Kirkland. Copyright © 2001 - .
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