last words III

house darkness                                                                  the away
gloved members                                                      doing back-
ground Hawaiian                                     men didn't want
desk arms you                                    missing sky mess
lips limo                                              him they hunt
thanks mean                            want him smiled
dollars loser                      angelfish country
head would            waiting forethought
put building              chance her met
conversation help frightened sale
coast trying he kids waiting for
girl close  door         laptops
casually foam    long tops
done door      here again
me safe         have his
mother

cosplay

 

last words II

bolt with maybe hurt something
his directions hesitated nothing
people names regulars
second laughed walked 
from kind collar police

her stolen changed off
with laptops asshats lied
persuasive her detective
up interrupted pair call
here closet mouth

there house no gun
her police special
shush help nothing
burger because had boy
match suspicious friends

awesome husband away
rattled identified fridge
room him climbed
stupid alive night 
wonderful okay stared left

r.i.p. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 3/24/1919 - 2/22/2021

STARTING FROM SAN FRANCISCO

Here I go again

wednesday newstrip

Is it true that all of the coronavirus in the world could fit in a coke can? · physicists thought the atomic giant Flerovium was 'magical', but it was just a mirage · a white swan has reportedly been stained black by printer ink while swimming in a UK pond · Tesla makes more money on Bitcoin than on cars · for planetary scientists, the Jimmy Carter–Ronald Reagan years were in retrospect like the Dark Ages, & they, the monks tending in enclaves to the embers of civilization · southern hairy-nosed wombats reclaim the Nullarbor · Samsung OLED TV with quantum dots could challenge LG as soon as next year · New Zealanders are discovering a new-found interest in returning taonga tūturu to their place and people of origin.

from the Chinese

Now that the meerkat
has discovered man buns
& hillbilly music, the
Imperial Palace has 

directed all local magi-
strates to remove it
from the protected
species lists & gazette

an open season on the
animal, covering at least 
the first two months
of the coming summer.

Scarborough Fair

I am wearing a necklace of
potted herbs. Carnivores
assail me, along with escapees
from the local military barracks
& rabid followers of various
football codes. I offer them
thyme & basil but they evince
no interest. Only when I show
them lavender do they display
enthusiasm. Apparently good
for keeping mosquitoes away.

ABBAdABBA

Serpentine yearnings. Or, else-
wise, following behind a woman
with the Laura poems of Petrarch,
in the original Italian, no less, dis-
played across her rhomboids. The
rain doesn't help, makes it hard to
read, causes insularity among the 
scribes who follow me around, 
transcribing my thoughts, which, 
unlike the Petrarch, are full of mis-
spellings. The sonnet in front of me 
is replaced by another one, & I
realize it's an LED display, not a
tattoo. Then a boy on a bicycle with 
a baguette in his bouche rides by, &
I lose all track of what Laura is up to. 

last words I

eyes of shoulder all 
anyone mirror him 
hand hours fingers
had girl else change
numbers baths contents

oldest beads longer listened
deal friendly homes
two burglaries give them
phone scene kill
with entered narrative

watch unafraid news
closely asking building
share closed
but mint kiss born cat
older lit whisper him 

right & me embankment
work above there stroke
shrugged valley
this doing it arm luck
cream problems & spite

Eventually

Acrobats abound on the benches
of the transit lounge. Everyone
else is staying clear, washing their
hands in rosewater or anointing
their brows with the blood of
pygmy possums. Curtains are
drawn across the picture wind-
ows, dampening down the noise

of luggage trolleys, keeping out 
the sun. It may be we are all
waiting for flights out; but since
there are no flights scheduled out
into the future, this may be where 
we have decided to make a stand. 

geographies: Weilmoringle

wednesday newstrip

The forever ponytail: woman shares ordeal after using Gorilla Glue on her hair · COVID-19 WHO investigation, 'extremely unlikely' virus came from Wuhan lab, bats · climate scientists think the PS5 & Xbox Series X are still too much of an energy drain · an analysis of coelacanth DNA suggests its genome has experienced some significant changes in recent evolutionary history, potentially dispelling the popular image of these iconic fish as being "living fossils" · DoNuts T.®ump claims "I'm peachy" fail · in a weird twist, scientists discover venus flytraps generate little magnetic fields · Mary Wilson, co-founder of The Supremes with Diana Ross, dies aged 76.

The print parts of Otoliths issue sixty are now available

The print parts of Otoliths issue sixty are now available from The Otoliths Storefront at Lulu. Details are below. Lulu generally runs a promotional discount from Monday to Friday. This week's discount is 10% & the discount code is READER10.

Part One
296 pages, b&w
Price: $US17.45
Direct Link: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/mark-young/otoliths-issue-sixty-part-one/paperback/product-qwrern.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Part One of Otoliths sixty contains visual & varieties of text poetry, photographs, & short stories by Constant Laval Williams, Sanjeev Sethi, Seth Leeper, Kelsey Swancott, DS Maolalai, Louise Landes Levi, S. K. Kelen, Lynn Strongin, Arrowsmith Forge, Pete Spence, Michael J. Leach, Mark Danowsky, Timothy Pilgrim, John Stickney, Jack Galmitz, Doug Bolling, Kristin Garth, Joanna Walkden Harris & Pete Spence, Craig Cotter, Charles Borkhuis, Mary Kasimor, Kyle Seibel, Vernon Frazer, Owen Bullock, Nathan Whiting, Seth A. Howard, Ian Goodale, Jeff Harrison, J. D. Nelson, Darrell Petska, Jenny Enochsson, Jen Schneider, Ryan Scott, Doug Jones, Tom Montag, Simon Perchik, Naomi Buck Palagi, Tony Beyer, Tom Beckett, Vera Constantineau, Eric Hoffman, Clara B. Jones, Bob Lucky, Harvey Huddleston, Isabel Gómez de Diego, Richard Kostelanetz, M.J. Iuppa, Penelope Weiss, John M. Bennett & Jeff Crouch, John M. Bennett, Joseph Salvatore Aversano, David Lohrey, Lewis LaCook, Nathan Anderson, Jake Sheff, Johannes S. H. Bjorg, Keith Nunes, Anna Cates, Elmedin Kadric, Andrew Pascoe, Toby Fitch, Jim Meirose, Natsuko Hirata, Joel Chace, John Levy, Claudia Serea, Steven Fraccaro, Bob Heman, Mark Pirie, Casey Bush, Kirsty Lewin, Eve Rifkah, Paul Pfleuger, Jr., Vassilis Zambaras, Thomas Fink, Thomas Fink & Maya D. Mason, Zebulon Huset, Robert Knight, Adam Rosenkranz, & Peter Yovu.

Part Two
266 pages, full color
Price:$US39.45
Direct Link: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/mark-young/otoliths-issue-sixty-part-two/paperback/product-m6j7p9.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Part Two of Otoliths sixty contains collages, photographs, paintings, text & visual poems, essays, & drawings by Christian ALLE, hiromi suzuki, Diana Magallón & Jonathan Minton, Kon Markogiannis, Michael Sikkema, Kyle Hemmings, Elaine Woo, Judith Skillman, Grzegorz Wróblewski, Diana Magallón Jeff Crouch & Jonathan Minton, Barnaby Smith, Chidambar Navalgund, John M. Bennett & Adam Roussopoulos, Nico Vassilakis, Olivier Schopfer, Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal, AG Davis, Scott Helmes & Carol Stetser, Cecelia Chapman & Jeff Crouch, Bruno Neiva, Dave Read, gobscure, Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad, Kathup Tsering, John M. Bennett, George Myers, Jr., Jeff Bagato, Kell Nelson, Marcia Arrieta, Marilyn Stablein, K. S. Ernst & Sheila E. Murphy, Alan (Chong) Lau, Alberto Vitacchio, Bob Heman, Randee Silv, Valeria Sangiorgi, Carla Vertola, horace p sternwall, Michael Brandonisio, Edward Kulemin, Kristian Patruno, & Guy R. Beining.

Part Three: The Four Oaks Poems
Jim Leftwich
100 pages, b&w
Price: $US10.95
Direct Link: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/jim-leftwich/otoliths-issue-sixty-part-three-the-four-oaks-poems/paperback/product-ykmw4r.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Part Three of Otoliths sixty is a stunning collection of several hundred poems by Jim Leftwich, written during his stay in Four Oaks, North Carolina, in August & September, 2020.

Part Four : discourse 9
Karl Kempton
49 pages, full color
Price: $US10.95
Direct Link: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/karl-kempton/otoliths-issue-sixty-part-four/paperback/product-n6k2ez.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Part Four of Otoliths sixty is the full-color chapbook of discourse 9, the latest of Karl Kempton's discourses, sub-titled "12 sand scores by the lunar solar wind & water quartette."

relativity

 

wednesday newstrip

Dark matter halo found around ancient 'cannibal' galaxy · Resident Evil Village's Lady Dimitrescu towers over her peers in height comparison chart · update your macOS to Big Sur 11.2 for new bug fixes · discoveries at edge of Periodic Table: first ever measurements of Einsteinium · Aung San Suu Kyi charged for owning illegal walkie-talkies following Myanmar military coup · sperm cells can poison each other in the race to be first to the egg · International Criminal Court clears way for war crimes probe of Israeli actions in occupied Palestinian territories · for 80 years, Captain America has battled the bad guys, including his own government.

geographies: Carstairs

 

Today the post-
woman brought me
Bud Abbott. Who's
on first? I asked him.
He punched me in
the face. He hasn't 
been the same since
Lou Costello passed.

once was

 

wednesday newstrip

Scientists solve the mystery of why wombats have cube-shaped poo · 28 trillion tonnes of ice have melted since 1994, on track with worst-case scenarios · Tesla’s new Model S can run Cyberpunk 2077 on its touchscreen · New South Wales police charge woman after baby ejected from car window in Sydney crash · own an iPhone? Apple could owe you £50 in compensation over battery life fallout · Ikea Byredo collaboration: designer candles on sale for just $9 · top T.®ump donor reportedly funded rally that preceded US Capitol riot · rare weather: three tropical cyclones tracking north of NZ.

geographies: Euri

 

Randomnest

The elephants marched in 

two by two

to keep the strudel alive.

wednesday newstrip

Unique 'super-puff' planet discovered 212 light years away from Earth is as big as Jupiter but 10 TIMES lighter · what is Google dorking and how to use it · scientists have described a dinosaur's butthole in exquisite detail · analysts say DoNuts T.®ump told 30,000 mistruths – that’s 21 a day – during presidency · Russia accuses US of meddling in its domestic affairs as thousands arrested at pro-Navalny rallies · Kourtney Kardashian & Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker dating · you can unlock a secret Isu weapon in Assassin's Creed Valhalla just by whacking a pile of rocks · DoNuts T.®ump is reportedly drawing up an "enemies list" of Republicans who opposed his claims of election fraud or voted for impeachment.

geographies: Firenze

solace

 

geographies: Womblebank

 

wednesday newstrip

As of January 8, the T.®ump administration had built just 47 miles of border wall where none existed before · Twitch’s Pogchamp removal was never enough, & now it’s turning into a disaster · horned Capitol rioter refused to eat because jail wouldn’t serve organic food · intranasal vaccination effectively reduces viral shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in monkeys · US executes first woman on federal death row in nearly seven decades · a military aide brought the 'nuclear football' for T.®ump's trip to Alamo, Texas · Go_ogle admits to running 'experiments' which remove some media sites from its search results.

c'est / la durée / de cette vidéo

                    The episode's encoding 
          is complete. An elaborate 
                     mortuary assemblage &
               a trip to Tunisia to play 
                        with food have been 
                  edited out; a choreo-
                graphed routine in which
            pacifists with pollinators
                        are pitted against naval 
                    commandos armed with 
                      photo-chemical smog
                has been added. A 
                    birds-eye view of the 
                              surrounding area is 
                reflected in a mirror.

choking the bucket

geographies: Cairdbeign