Barrel Magic


Canto XV

Canto XV

 

. . . aber ich fürchtete mich doch

            noch viel mehr vor dem bloßen

wunden Kopf ohne Gesicht

 

            you'd sip the holy cup that Pan swills

like a short pint from Murphy’s Pub in Brookline

            on Harvard            it simply bares fin dee sickle

 

like Indy girls thrown aside as each Quest’s won

            like Tiger Lily and Wendy and Tink his Mórrigan

his Internet Discount            his Shadow            like Bond girls

 

            still in the thrall of martinis

emotionless without hope            unable to jog

            themselves free from rocky coasts

 

John Harrison invented their exit wound

            ticking like Hook’s clock inside the croc

the Empire awakened by a gear

 

            so when Pan looks at his Shadow

he believes he is different from his father

            because all is reversed and he believes

 

he’s free from statements of service or bills of lading

            casinos entrance him            King George awaits

the large chalice waits empty for his ballot

 

            ubiquity breeds contretemps

heaven has a place for him—hell

            Pan’s Shadow works everywhere

 

rigmarole defines everyday

            everyone clouds            everyone fusses

Wendy binds his heart to her

 

            Pan’s Shadow is so huge she stretches

from one dining room at 21 to the other table

            at Maxim’s--poking at her coq au vin

 

--her hair is as long as the Tiber

            her feet are as large as Sardinia

her hands can grasp the Rockies            throttle Coors

 

            who else would center on supper

as a piece            a skit            a 2000-year-old

            recipe of bread and wine

 

Fort Collins collapses                      jets wing to UK

            academy graduates collect at Galway

the Shadow rises from Tara            fear of Danu

 

            cliffs rugged posing above Atlantic

swells               one fort at the edge            souls

            weeping there              fear of Badb

 

The One who trailed Tiger Lily       who slyly

            speared her while she coveted Trojan

armor               who snuck upon her

 

            This One’s father Admiring his Son’s

deviousness            this One’s mother Admiring her Son’s

            lies            Him Hiding behind a bush

 

His Steed curtained by Spears sharpened at His Son’s

            smithee            roaring            falling off the cliffs

hundreds sacrificed to Maeve the Unsated

 

            reformist leanings            allegations            credentials

Offer Expires Apr 1 or While Supplies Last!

            hundreds sacrificed to mail-in-rebates

 

the Shadow offers hope unlike her apologists

            who vend battles in heaven

the Shadow offers peace and a free meal

 

            Duna Feadhreagh appearing at dusk

faeries mounted on butterflies buzzing the trenches

            faeries on beetles assaulting the Dublin PO

 

only the desire to sell the illusion

            keeps the illusion alive            only the need

to enrapture the believer endures

 

            the power to break free from illusion

learned at seminary            enrolling the unchurched

            learned at seminary                   necessity of lies

 

have no fastness until broken upon

            the wheel of war            The One uses Lost Boys

to enliven his legions’ fearlessness

 

            when Pan looks at his reflection

he believes he is different from his father

            because all is reversed and he believes

 

then dies because the mirror image

            lies            neither the image of our mind

nor the face torn from paintings

 

            can testify   self-portraits drawn

backwards as others truly see us not

            drawn from mirrors but projected

 

the Shadow’s deeds do not mirror ours

            our crosses hang as banners at war

with charity                   our shadows’ deeds entrenched

 

            Spiral Minaret of Samarra                       evidence

exploding around it            then finally wounded

            army fire       shot through the temple

 

jagged crystals of salt hide a wave of flavor

            with a crisp clean saltiness that recedes

leaving a floral whisper on the tongue

 

            Pan insane   Pan brain flavors sweet

then bitter            Pan hammering at the mirror

            sd/ “Let me in”   grave            rose

 

the Shadow pursues Pan on her Toshiba

            the Shadow pursues Pan on her Toshiba

the Shadow pursues Pan on her Toshiba . . .

 

            XBOX malloc()/free() implementation

is also storing control information inbound and is similar

            to the Windows 2000/XP heap allocators

 

this wasn't a shock:  Bucky sd/ “da Vinci, inventor

            of the mechanically gyp-proof whore-house”

Sit Down Please              last orders

 

            the net of longitude and latitude

ensnaring continents with centuries to live

            out the carnage            Charlie’s Angels

 

donne innominate sacrificed to Maeve the Unsated

            numberless gods sacrificed to XBOX

Pan sacrificed to Windows 2000/XP the Unsated

 

            please accept these stickers as a token

of our appreciation for your support

            Culture of Life sacrificed to tokenism

 

The Culture of Life shamanized by Hook

            the Shadow pursues the One who struck

down Tink in His quest for Empire

 

            the Shadow’s arrow flies true to his heart

and he breathes at last               equilibrium

            the Shadow’s arrow flies again

 

Pan becomes the anti-shaman

            descrying surprise and perversity

and peerlessness            soldiering by exhaustion

 

            Lost Boys in the Kush

by the tick tock of the clock Wendy will

            sew our shadows on

 

she is our immurata sister

            hers an empty world                 she miserable!

which way shall she fly?

 

 

Make

Thoughts on Pattern Recognition by William Gibson

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