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10.24.17
From The Autobiography of Jean Foos
Algae makes day a difference a what um Poe cameo
let’s start with the material, maternal helix filibuster, squeeze drops
hint: queenly cat Caesar roars action, supremely claw and jangle
examined life cheats middle-aged stoning death tiptoe bravura ma’am
realize fully the direction and momentum of this new start
code nature to convene diphthong hilarity meter & grammar scabs
unravel the dazzle, my essence of the essentials, “going up?”
 
 
Migratory Tennessee coding screen for wide wide sky mine own
to my only friend with a Hawaiian-inspired, Greek-derived name
origin story landlocked possibly synthetic trembling air’s ocean current
might cost a person love, companionship, all their survival gear
shame about the corrugation though, full-tilt mayhem, boiling sky
bouquet ghosty concrete tap tap correspondence V of birds faraway
suasion detains thought cloud overflow fealty to manners, particulate charm
 
 
Whose rumble is splurged by whirl, spelling the simple spell
one foot in front debilitating detrain trudge neither here nor
chance access of university stacks, lurk and search, I toil
winter birch amplify bedeviling guile of the troubadours, ditto flange
the twist ending. Hello there unconscious give me Humboldt thoroughly
tracking static pathway neural aroma tinges of spun bold refracting
I began to try combining words in the public library

 
 
 
 
And through the window the noxious exhalations of the soil
“dogtrot” is a style point of these portraits, breezeway connected
down from the Obion one-eyed man moves through the streets
to analog paste-up hours on green Thompson Street, Pepsi editing
tacky surface a grid, marzipan under glass, the neighborhood spackling
[NYC umbrella] idea toss, two, three, pendulum city in lights
doors or stairs chatter tamping peals ring out under clouds
 
 
Shapeshift at quonset in a military theater by the sea
west coast bildungsroman scrub data field salt flat doubt drains
the projectionist’s daughter popping in and out of the frame
cerulean collateral hangs above the cliff its density flickering
signals peerless script acceleration, Saturday planting words and seeds indoors
queer birds track and jitter mark balmy winter devast epiphany
bear in mind, a true friend is hard to find
 
 
Barreling wind might land body on another coast tunneling intuition
hurtle huddle tread and mettle, the vade mecum of against
trickster pantomime lingers on the backside of eyelids, can we?
yes! famously unfamous, poetry scraps rubble words in space onstage
constructed prose vents air with triple-action off-gassing specialness
will still write source music for Elevated and soap dish
will still high frequency metadata into flat pool pure blue

 
 
 
 
Processiness tendencies warrant continued attention, make our own damn satellite
blinkering pasts, meadow bloomed overnight in early spring heat blast
meshes of the login, come here, Grim, I need you
where strata melts the meme and offshore wind screed churns
blackberry tulip buries the master clock, mind dialing Dear Reader
gale force afterthought aside my time on the planet was limited
dark pitch it was until I acted, just to say
 
 
Constellation folds before I count stars—dropping out of line
the smoke of the bonfire is smudged with a rag
random word generator cog numbing lung you look up again
of course / did I ever / the front over / standard Jupiter
typical HEPA flagellant radios weatherman, ready? so can we dance?
wavy urgent air open to the public yes body can!
except the long-range is specious, and I am tired
 
 
What interests, how experience filters through, in memory of energies
body’s move a memento as oblique as dark reign rain
violent shoes in UFO sentences totter rocky research power, poof!
low clouds today, a coating, press inertia against my skin
by wit and ability, she saves the day (eclipse edition)
distrust traveling freely across state borders with the terrible shadow
over and trout rare lilies endemic I hear a butterfly

Jessica Grim has published several books of poetry, including Vexed (/Ubu Editions), Fray (O Books), and Locale (Potes & Poets Press). With Melanie Neilson, she cofounded & coedited Big Allis, a journal published from 1989–2000 that focused on innovative writing by women. She lives in Oberlin, Ohio.
Melanie Neilson’s full-length collection Palmyra Pieces is forthcoming as of Fall 2017. With Jessica Grim, Neilson cofounded and coedited Big Allis, a journal that focused on innovative writing by women, 1989–2000. She lives in New York City.