Friday, February 1, 2013

Trevor Joyce


from THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE


incursions
of a hunting
king

enemy
assaults

voracious
birds and
insects

onslaughts
of wind
rain drought
or flood

entering
abruptly
at one
horizon

exiting
haphazardly

there is now
no appetite
for such 

calamities
in actuarial
circles



fundamental
unsettling
fortifies

those born during
the war were
the true leaders

earlier were broken
by regret
later spoiled

never allow
the state
of things settle
imperfectly

now that cohort
is exhausted
we require further
enormities



prognosticators
bring you
cedarwood

the widow
offers roasted
flour

poor folk
give oil

the wealthy
farmer from
his flock
selects
a lamb

all these
to praise you

that you may
skew the
probabilities

fix the game



virtuosos
of the funerary
sacrificial
diplomatic
and hospitable
arts

equilibrists
of lover
and beloved

exact their game
from the chaos
of wild potentialities

the true fan
anticipates
each variation
rush reserve

the client nods
and pays



an immense
force
somewhere
out there

driving grit
into and against
the structures
the room filled
with the green
stench of dust
and sand

inside doors
thudded in
their frames
with the violent
alterations
in pressure









© Mark Weiss






Trevor Joyce's most recent book is Courts of Air and Earth (Shearsman, Bristol UK). Rome's Wreck and The Immediate Future are both due shortly, from Cusp Books (Los Angeles) and RunAmok Press (Cork), respectively. He is the founder of the SoundEye Festival in Cork, Ireland, where he's usually to be found when he's not in Leamington Spa, England.

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