quantum

we’re ambivalent about the equivalent value;
in fact you might say we’re wavering,
savoring the possible permutations;
elated by the very quavering factions;
invigorated by infinite fractions
in the waves

c. 2001, 2008 Evan Gilling

inspector

There’s another one, impartial,
who asked the right questions
like a fire marshall,
a toxic waste detective,
a home inspector
looking for defectives,

who put me in quarantine,
slapped on a moon suit
and wrapped me
in Owens-Corning fiberglass
covered my ass in asbestos
fireproofed me,
nuclear-free in lead,
containing my heat

c. 2001, 2008 Evan Gilling

Dale (a comedy)

Ding Dong
Dale Earnhardt’s dead
The wall played ping pong
with his head
A final tire squeal
big wicked deal
Another brain-dead hick
behind a wheel

c. 2001, 2008 Evan Gilling

faux foal

You imagine yourself
I suppose
a foal deposed
from a womb
enclosed no more
in warm repose
An innocent newborn
whose only sin
is the glistening
of your skin
Your mind it seems
shakes and wobbles
of shocks it perceives
words that you hear
hurt like new legs
and a pony’s first fear
Words that abound
now sting like knees
first hitting the ground
Why, faux foal
do you err
hearing the sound
of a mare
as a ravenous hound?
Is your glowing mane,
thick black
merely showing
to tickle your back?

c. 2001, 2008 Evan Gilling

Dash (a magnum opus)

Dash

I don’t know who
you were,
or are,
but it was beautiful
to see you
running in the dark.
Dashing, worried
elusive spark
passing by,
carrying
your own Olympic
flame
for someone
nameless;
hurrying
As if a rain
were coming

The sparse light
catches a
flash of
blonde curls
bouncing
and brushing
’round
your dirty brown
football jacket
Your rushing
footfalls
send leaves
and white squirrels
scurrying

In whirlwind flight
you corner
the wall
in the Quad;
the lamplights
catch the
last dim sight
of an ankle cuff
dashing
through
the damp night

Your last
heel taps
ricochet
through the tree stand,
fanning out
then fading
through the square
A sad gap,
a silence
and stillness
resume
in the
chilled air

I don’t know
where you’ve been,
or must go,
to whom
you need to fly
on agile toes
Maybe you don’t
really know
I just hope
the one who
calls you
can listen
and hear the beauty
of your fragile
echoes

c. 2001, 2008 Evan Gilling

Roar [more blasphemy]

Roar.
Fornicate in glory
before the Lord

Hoard
the sores
from memory
and soar
in an orgy
of defiance;

Reject
reliance
on the boring
Orders
of a Sadist

Pluck
the feathers
from the cluck dumb
totem; kick
the Bastard’s
Holy Scrotum

Plow;
ramrod through
the Coward
and make Him
eat his reeking
Words

Screw
like a drooling
dog; slap your
hog shanks
before
the Alter

Flip
the bird
of affirmation
to the Fascist
in the firmament

Shoot
a skyward wad
splat flat down
in sacrificial
offering

Scream
and cuss;
cream and rip
and rim
the sheets
of Scripture

Pop
your pus
in the face
of Grace;
Make him eat
and suck
your dust

c. 2001, 2008 Evan Gilling

jingo (wordplay, unfinished)

jingoistic ping pong with Pyong-yang

idiotic king kong tin bong gang

feudalistic king gone wing-dong mad

itty witty

singing Bim Bom in a tin shitter

you can’t fist ‘er with a Pfister faucet handle, mister
fist ‘er with yer fist up to your wrist, mister
‘n’ twist ‘er with Sisyphean lift and kiss ‘er
on ‘er pisser and ‘er cysts and blisters

c. 2001, 2008 Evan Gilling

flit

get off your bed of butter,
fly,
select your nectar better,
flutter less,
fly straighter,

there’s always time
to flit on pedals
after you bud her,
fly

c. 2001, 2008 Evan Gilling

False

Is your Christian mission
to coo in a brute’s ear?
Who do you delude
with your humor
are you fooling your muse
or fueling a tumor
Are you singing his praises
or raising traces of scorn
stinging your soul
wth false embraces

c. 2001, 2008 Evan Gilling

fallout

fallout

the grains poured in the glass,
a sandstorm raged outside

wearing down the stones

the glass on the unwound watch
dimmed in dust

the springs caught drops
melted to rust

raindrops fell
on a body of water

the body poured fluid
inside

the moving body of liquid
that stopped
and dried

c. 2001, 2008 Evan Gilling