The Record

Premay 2007

I. Invocation

Dante:
during this so brief vigil of our senses
that is still reserved for us, do not deny
yourself experience of what there is beyond,
behind the sun, in the world they call unpeopled.
Canto XXVI
and
Rilke:
fear not suffering; the heaviness,
give it back to the weight of the earth;
the mountains are heavy, heavy the oceans.
even the trees you planted as children
long since grew too heavy, you could not sustain them.
ah, but the breezes; ah, but the spaces.
Sonnet to Orpheus IV

II. The Record

the shadowlands along summerstreets, oh, ann arbor.
these have been places of walks and peripatetices.
to lawns and porches of east ann street along 1010/210,
and the dutch house roof, the canopies out back;
the planada-rest in peace-and the corner of 7 where the Rhine spilled over;
catherine street:
where abided my boys loney and chap
on the petition couch,
squalor is high modernism lads—keep your heads up,
steadfast against all the misanthropics;
here stand the saturday morning sheds, zingerman's breadly,
and summer tables;
lawrence street and linford: you harbored me;
south fourth of three summer's past fans turning in lateday:
the west beckons across yard and leopold's where we have cleaned;
detroit street, washington, ashley on some sundays,
liberty out west and over the hill,
huron river to north territorial to m52;
cedar campus and whitefish point:
where we forged meta and in silent rooms traversed time
and rested lazy to begin again and striving to do so,
men's retreat and focus week of frozenbay broomball and narnia—
i left you a gnome and a thing called meta:
(tb douce, d dunkel, taitcha: onward for our burden is light)

blessed be these terrains and abodes.

to my people uprooted, dig in;
the fellows;
justin b (tinney some time yore);
dave o and dumie we formed a midhall triad;
eadie, mick, snuph, schteeny, sprech and carlsone the easy e;
delorean of car fame, meul, mccrack - see you all soon;
hubers of the south and the rest of it;
christie i may know you yet;
derek of cigars and carolina
and your honey ms. single no longer:
remember where you’ve been and why;
tom e thane of thanes much love to you and to the little ones;
troy and jess and as you have it boo and just last week samuel:
you are exemplars;
rich the aussie god bless you and the leelanau, the manistee—
i will see you in africa;
darren you're a legacy van der keesma;
hull i missed you; what happened since pre-moore talks on couches?;
muncey what can be said?--pass me a cigar;
chelsea in the leelenau from sf to jonestown keeps yer roots hun;
bling, ryan, dawn and/or delahoya: stratford was vernal even in the grey of autumn, blessings blessings blessings;
keith at asp, john perkins down in jackson;
ann s of mo and la keep breathing;
whang of jersey like fish in and out of water please be strong,
and this premay a new line to you:
look now upon yourself—you have been given sight;
k v dyke and The Pressing;
raynor post focus week i miss the land that i never knew;
backypacky amy and rachel, we are all alone so let us hike;
the taubman crew: mississy, chang, lads with cigars and whiskey, alexa, hemingway, devereux and melissa, mick and bodley, ddrek;
ddrek of many nights at arbor our home;
graham, pennings, yang, melema, steveo, tb, tracy, ddault;
and the ivers: what has happened?;
what to you kg son of swan?: blessings—water has fallen;
alex, tait, andrew, megan, timmy: i love you;
muncey, meul, miked, daveo, easy e, and our clan: i love you too;
ra, ho, yang on oxford and grendel in the den: shalom.
to the new crew and to you lucius i missed you sooner;
to the emerging in the square: you have surprised me,
let us move headlong—
you have brought me peace here.
there is time for invocation but it is now befalling.
detroit, the havens, the dunes, the grasses, the tills, the orienters, the faded and resolute, the winds, the leaves, the frames, the colors, the treading grounds, the flats, the valley and the crag, the hollow and the gorge, the halls, manchester, chelsea, dexter, the fires at the farms, the deeps and the bales, rain on asphalt, the kin and the sages, and the restlessness of times which are imminent;
there is lore about thoroughly!
winter ebbs, there is much to be spoken.