ETERNAL SECTIONS

by Tom Raworth
Tom Raworth's poetry is at once narratively based and is radically disjunctive, a writing that at every moment seems to be pushing away from the line previous but suddenly snaps back into a logical whole and transforms the meaning and the reader's experience of the poem itself.
each district commander set the boat further adrift

t
H

5 f,

z :
'a

ET ERNAL SE CTIONS

o Fl

z U
Fl o H
E

its extremities shading to indigo

deepening to a tone

appropriate in some respects it weaved and danced there

!d p,

Author of over twenty books of poetry, Raworth is recognized as one of the major British poets of the 20th century. His recognition in the United States equals that of any of his countrymen. Robert Creeley has said of him, "Tom Raworth is the one who's truly most interesting to me in England at the moment. I'm fascinated by what he's doing. He's an extraordinary
poet."

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In Eternal Sections, Raworth continues his study of the fluidity of meaning begun in Visible Shiuers. T};le result is a brilliant work of art, clearly worthy of inclusion in Sun & Moon's noted Classics series.
Sun & Moon Press LOS ANGELES
rsBN 1-55715-129-5

TOM RAWORTH
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ETERNAL SECTIONS

ETERNAL SECTIONS
Tom Raworth

Sun & Moon Classics: 23

SLTN

& MOON PRESS

LOS ANGELES

Sun & Moon Press A program of The Contemporary Arts Educational project, Inc. a nonprofit corporation 6026 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90096

in black tunics, middle-aged in the stationery store

every gesture, even
food: to

it

First published in paperback in

19gB by

sun & Moon press

1098765432r
FIRST EDITION
@Tom Raworth, 1993 Biographical information @Sun & Moon press, lgg3 All rights reserved

This book was made possible, in part, through a grant from the cultural Alfairs Department, city of Los AngeleJ, and through contributions to the contemporary Arts Educational project, I-nc., a nonprofit corporation
selections of this work previously appeared in Acts, Assemblance, fragmente, Joe Soap's Canoe, Kite, Loiis Zukofsky o,liho"uu, Some Else Thought He Was, Mgur, Mord.er Towei Anthology, Notus, O One Anthology, Pages, pages du Collete d,e Bouffle, Fo"rie visible Exhibition, Poetica, Poetry society choice, six'sonnets, r o t t e r i n s s t a t e ( u' v e r s e, w o o d,t a n d,

Critical Quarterly, Emergency, A Gang of Four First Offense,

thought which breaks stereotypes which constitute extennuated to the point none of the action's promoters the user experiences no need of acting dedicated to commerce the history of our own stiffness of manner no longer aligned

f;o;,!:!:"; !;x"; I : :;{';:;:'

Cover: Paul S6rus ier, Tetrahedrons Reproduced by permission of artist,s gallery and estate Design: Katie Messborn

brilliance of the orange lily down the gangways, silent in its broad bosom indifferent to the new
more delicate ways never used now

Library of Congress cataloging in publication data Raworth, Tom (1938) Eternal Sections

p.cm.-

(Sun & Moon Classics: 23) ISBN t-557r3-t29-5 I. Title. II. Series.

811'.54-dc19

cIP 901-50128
Printed in the United States of America
of

without limiting the rights under copyright reserved here,

a

this publication masy be reproduced, siored in or introduced into retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording oi otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher ofthe book.

no part

watered silk subdued by time within earshot extinguished the lamp hushed for a few moments down they climbed daring to look at it before midnight could be fashioned into words

her latest clothes whistling in his throat change was alcohol of granite set in springs asleep in a margin tin made little impression for its armless shape bereft of all organs owned four important oils retaining walls revealing even greater ugliness a death to others incapable of going

the balloon had been left in place removed until weight mastering instead of mastered was fitted with a form on the scene the sheep observing whether they appeared less damatnng to the fabric stowed in a basket with other animals eventually prevailed to such purpose he announced his intention throwing small pieces of paper to his own nemesis

sensibly notes tends somewhat pleated crowns

he was certain of that deliberately he sent his gaze

would not disclose at advertising and anonymity help for the cost of a bid places are inspected from such heights permitting such an impression if "black" is defined with your back to the audience there is no sign of fatigue a policy of pure destruction taken in unmarked lorries

from one episode of hypnotic absorption on a razed dais to be authorised into his library at a particularly flat area in the machine a finger dramatically formed it into a system finding the thought that applied needed no prolonged intercommunication moment by moment crinkled into a smile

to use collective power is an aspiration insights become questions starting point, method as the mission
can be nothing less

clamped down on them otherwise refusal to move

most of the nation ignored in droves during two hours of prime time to sample and rate their once conventional views disaster gossip and sensationalism advertised as the latest

ingratiating strategy paid off

employed as a weed you must also contend to loosen up fewer pennies per proof little seems to have changed as homemakers play on

environment or surroundings only by a slight ripple may be some dislodgement under the appearance ofgood submarine the more horrific in the open air

continue living terrified by pincers cow's milk diluted with water sailed past his head with the greatest difficulty in the tall mirrors of poetry, but later on when children and women began snooping around the orchard to ask for a packet of rice he could not even tan their skins talking about physical levitation in a tunnel of books a plate of lentils or potatoes

only slow ravages of rust may be part due to a balance the collector would have in the remote past much earlier life

partitioned in a process to reach a high level long on a collision course two chains are not identical apart from a few credulous drops of liquid replicating themselves for as long as a million

back up my statement

belt the disease or religious views of the state a speedy peaceful departure could be quite belligerent and changes with time lovers'language a politician's memoirs a street on the right bank persist as custom accompanied by an apologetic attitude of periods before a rather laughable argument as is sometimes said

its nearest rival didn't let the yobboes in on a stage being within the paranoid leadership what relationship does she enjoy
any takers?

speculating in the normal course of business to assert a normal hum until, that is, the great big cork tag of the jury's verdict
rows of boxes

watching many famous figures

after a little combing and the max ration there were no abstentions from darkness to darkness against the rectangular opening in the deserted street a slip of paper gripped my hand but the wide swathe around it could only come from a wet brain punched into the snow as consciousness came back there was a couch a substitute body for mine

folded printed piece of paper drummed on the floor waiting for a baggage machine a thinking reed count on it working
a different use entirely let him come near her deep in his brooding without even knowing the incident had left including the two sirnulacra perfectly confident to bring in a reasonable return open to them

10

11

even before that the playground vanished from view it just seemed Iike something started towards the gate and went in coming right on top tomorrow night, say out, until words kind of died in that Iong hour we'd be a lot safer for walking in jerking drawers to be a hero

utility workhorses

we

just

exist merely to allow the bus service in ionisers and digital suitcases and digital suitcases and three-speed personalised things

suppose

it would

take months to denounce it my husband said years the car telephone it means personal privacy a working tool which if cited, of course, is

in one vascular bed failure and shock

take the place of normal precluding devel opment until adulthood tube shunt is removed assigned a value in a graded recurrence of chest pain in motion the heart's rhythm is discovered bypassing the narrow area of the site and extent of surgical repair to observe the derriation of exitation

thoughts are in real time after you've gone they keep your body alive sending bills bankrupting your children reserving the right to legally define alive perhaps that technological blip records decay evening sunlight first sense of spring

72

13

wondered about that familiar face impregnable to thieves through film pulling his brain to a single spot remembrance hollow in the snowman's chest he might have run further in a single trip a straight line out of retirement attached to the water box swishing feet behind the door he reasoned flatly, staring

curving crumbling stairs enough chips to a portion for days beforehand the idea of a frsh something had to be done the main thrust is a bigger fatter specimen more or less perpetual clad in the traditional straw for much of the celebration alongside all that serious arrondissement, cordelia, the daughter has a tiptoeing gait with what trading benefits

shaped by a master craftsman the system was seen as a complex chance to unwind
a used alto saxophone

paid a cover charge of three dollars to stop using heroin the road-trip began more low-budget sessions summoned to a pay telephone charlie was late as usual enough of the original melody remains auditory hallucinations a blur of movement a pretty sound

put forward the terms on the rich man's pattern endless confusion results all along, no system above meaningless tragedy or any other organ of government predicting the prices as long as this is observed how things work in nature to lose but their chains by acquiring "know-how" in the modern sector a fanaticism about the means resistant to radical changes

74

15

be scrupulously attentive

where any manifestation hides without abolishing itself

for economic production follows the distribution of gaps upon a material whose signs are perceived in the endless deployment
of writing such a history which conceived of

an inscription on a tomb force, compulsion a sepulchral monument the sense of smelling a running knot, a snare
one

within an indian child

one on horseback

itself

through a certain form as a human being no longer guilty of being mad

remaining unchanged destitute of vigour awaiting unable to resist the process of repelling a soft milky medicine

the loveliest of spring flowers were once thought to improve memory to help enrich with their heady fragrance a book of fruit organically grown suitable to go with red meat which is why a little juice of Iemon from the finest natural ingredients used to fight fevers is a great digestive excellent with fish goes well with chicken

broken body lying

at the end of the runway finally leaked out on the pattern

of the inquest to a chorus of rousing cheers

an unseemly light modelling for something looked normal left unguarded in a dispersal bag villagers remembered how quickly their own tanker's engines plunged burning into the forest

to a tickertape welcome

76

77

with the tommy gun ready plastered to celebrate dim flames on dull metal followed right after it, obviously a strategic spot seen, or reported seen
glimmering in the twilight haze conducting a natural investigation into a human pincushion so the heads would show halfway in and halfway out but the patter of rain hit, and the lights went out squarely within marked-off areas

forced to act ostensibly independent thought can never admit its disposal into a senseless gadget paid symbolic tribute by an appraising look

forms of decadence exclude schematic parables

no less seamed

within tradition
used to mean

that does not bear economical shape compactly the

a product

of a brutal national economy

came out

with

a piece

closing the door softly splattering and building up on a concrete block until a certain image passed

quickly to one side

along the edges

in his mind. the skeleton ignorant of its true full nature does not adequately compensate bouncing around on its wire stem a blunted line in that particular position

pity his condition armed with great ambitions conceived in their regard rather than his ideas close to their origins by what aberration urgent and irreducible without detecting its artifices will he attempt to rouse them? indefrnite and dissolving within forced to face their depths without a background uniform and easy to endure fatality impregnates them

18

79

their every movement in enjoyment of a comfortable dazzling illumination would probably cause moral decay an intensified tendency during these short grey days as the room grew yet darker they would revolve around it frozen into impossible attitudes under the threatening shadow of whispering leaves expanding and contracting the fashionable world

upon a metal platform enclosed by a wooden gate the brazier glowed ferocious and chimerical beneath their noses a smooth knife blade carved mysterious whorls along nerves doors and window frames nearly obliterated by rain and wind drew his eyes into a crack in reality

promising secrets memories not his own

fear that increases does not make them cry out quite without features from some remote past each corner of the room began to hum distrustful of music so far as its tempo snow crushed under foot lay stretched out before us a vast plain menaced by stirrings through small oval shades biting his diamond buttons

talking loudly into the phone where various rubber stamps hung for the duration of the wake a dog in the next room screamed with laughter in the shade almost completely trampled down she was wearing a fur coat hanging at such an angle against his upper arrn the black silk was wet
deeper and more remote since the border was mined

20

27

people looked at him

sitting in a soft chair so old it had turned black throwing a few snakes down at his glass she hesitated in the weeds her mouth tight -- grim no sympathy for him run into a brick waII her rocking chair would be theirs he had a coal-oil lamp it was hot and stuffy in there

tilted by crank handles also a carefully followed method propped at one end helped by gently tapping round the puppet's head can be manipulated with just a shadow drawing underneath for strong dark accents ranging over almond., trowel horse-glue gently heated "hot-pressed"r "not", or "rough" ridges show up bright and rich bleeding into neighbouring colours

rolling in offthe sea for the first time no kind of emotion waiting around despite tinted eyeglasses his muscular hindquarters didn't fit the leather seat keeping him glowing to heat the room would accelerate decay worshipping the wrong god when they started dying wasn't so much

attitudes do not necessarily change arson, murders and assaults in the three biggest economies nurtured from the start in a climate
of smelters

follow sooner or later a lot of unwanted oil determines who wins or who loses in real terms cutting back an inflow of foreign money the impact of endaka shelved for a little while longer

22

23

his nature must be amorous scurrying along his misery is a touching sight when wooden blinds at the top suddenly rise in a hurry to tell you there is only a thin wall between taking us always by surprise feeling sorry for the medium in the full glare of a lamp the person holding it completely hidden generally asks him to explain can see that she is standing in pale moonlight

on an eight-minute nudge inferior form of words

propped, fragmenting glad of the fire the lamplight nothing described

transparent materials through one a white pick-up an aluminium ]adder a donkey-jacket a blurred face vanishing right behind a plastic flowerpot

still be able to describe who offered us our birth

to everything in the course of gradual progress through desolate forests disappears after death "outside" of ourselves moving rhythmically becoming light to be born again the same as me not the experience of talking animals separating worlds from each other

limp wires fed electricity into a pool of crude oil

cropped rose canes

stuck up a nail now and then

lofty with superstructure in a tuck of the hills no-one stirred white and sharp in the dark a terracotta sculpture
of cardboard boxes took up most of the space

without touching it one of them begins to bleed in the rental car

24

25

your things are in the bathroom he mentioned with the dialing tone work out what horse clumps them all together deeply he longed for a third immune from accidents through good works dry in a microsecond fresh from the desert do you mind if we go back there? to the bamboo room draped in dust sheets for historical reasons

reflections from the fire-box moved swiftly to the bedroom keeping a wary eye unlocked and open across the desert, humming fog had lifted a little between the black treetrunks he turned and twisted propped up on three pillows weird blue moonlight dissipated the gloomy murder leaving short-Iived silvery trails drifting in rather large numbers lousy with glass

returning to sculpture my folded chair shakier on the inside gave me a key although of course anyone walking the street said there might be some paralysis in my back pocket playing with ideas moving them around on the page this way after a light turned red they eluded me until ten o'clock

covered with

hair

brain lesions, red vision so disturbingly profound status depends on a cultural adaptation to social life a drearier, Iess attractive world in the gratification of the propriety written by evolution to be thought young
observing others cheated by their playmates

counting myself among them alongside signal colouration

26

27

colours are to be heightened stained with wine and ale forced out of their proper channels with places, for example spinning in a new direction grey anxiety an art by accident brings back a memory that is the curse of it

striving for the tight

of complete abandon to the moment

this is the opal hush through which it is impossible to see

hell-bent on making a streetcar back. in his mind he sold snake oil with you setting there rocking at this ignoble trade up in the front lines to put it in dialect all these roads around here jammed into every possible Place would make your head ache dark outside, and snowing toward the front of the house overlooking the ocean p ositively contaminated

this waiting is difficult only

focused on the wall behind and the pale placid face

light coming from a small lamp was too thick for her throat like that in town
maybe she wasn't seeing

fractured skull the blackness under his eyelids eating up that smoke once some sound came in very fast and hit his arm his other hand went out for the matches awake and quietly capable
a

with

minarets were built singlY in a typically irregular waY producing small coffers surrounded by such elahorate borders pierced by windows animated with stylised figures that no empty space was left geometric symbols were used incised or modelled in a wide variety of shades given an intense luminositY the earliest illustrated texts work with an emphasis on fi gurative representation

28

29

in the order of emergence the first throaty chuckles change to one syllable in the focus of activity also providing the normal basic cry a strong element halfway through the period separated by brief pauses sure what they mean into longer sequences accompanyiirg heart and respiration babbling a random selection of well-practiced sounds

even though the jazz feeling the collaborative aspects

make a significant statement until we're all happy the artificial sound of tape from one block to another edits real fast individual moments layering and moulding approaches to their instruments where he could burn

wandering across type time dimension keys, tempos, etc.

competing with the others who treat and prevent ulcers of personality if you Iike a judgment system in voodoo unless you've seen them foremost in their memories you start to notice things grow up, make mistakes Iook the same in a parody of a stagger to the point of paranoia but profound nonetheless an open invitation over the pounding gaelic back-beat

such division into subjects

consequences of a failure

defined by humanist criticism must be understood always

with the same concern in mind a different style of beauty may appear to be a contradiction
of generic character capable of moving freely

in a diachronic process
over the motions and expressions
of beauty proper the difficulty of this position

is not at all troublesome

30

31

a picture, or a model, is not false but nonsensical

apart from their particular Iogical forms manifest in the signifying relation this fact contains in itself certain structural properties not at all essential to logic the essential characteristic provides the necessary intuition without having any idea which avowedly depicts the facts bounded by solid substance because arguments of the wrong kind must be independent of reality

imperative is the index of a knowing discourse counter to the laws of logic in classical or market caPitalism it works or it does not at the same level in these fragmented texts of a pure code-space between expression and content the same time is alreadY historY without a mirror the abstract Posture will be difficult to ascertain on the recording surface

they lost what it had taken to compare with theirs making co-operation impossible only limited territory gave her a refuge by hereditary right and feeble conquests setting up a government fired with enthusiasm to discuss them more thoroughly he has to fear vices which are necessary before he acts on those who may plot rebellion

iridescent notation did not clearly distinguish the name as obfuscatorY within an alien code in the first echolalias of the hippos but it really hurt the plausible a thematic occurrential role carries this abstraction much further as he nourishes himself pressing, turning in various ways outside the laws of humanitY the inventor Projected

32

33

shadows made of wood by a variation in the number common to both upset the wave.ing balance enough to be traumatic in transit images something has been going on in many photographs a prolonged, vast, patient process not paroxysmal a kind of delight which pluralises the meaning demanded by gesture but conserves it in the present

terrified whines pulsed to the bacilli column still in the open creating from themselves if you don't want to their own abhorred image of a powerful body in an earthquake impeding height on inadequate evidence no less frightened memory swept over him
motionless

his brain refusing to work

two small cakes and one tart with smears of catsup all around enough for them both a place where something never depicted Iooked through the window for a scarcity of possible subjects outside the most boring minutia of concrete works continuous history running among other dolorous Iessons sterilizing all wombs invoking metaphysics both turn to renounce their internal forces

knowed pretty well wot

the editor distinctly did when a recent attempt artistically rounded and forced his last gold coin out into the lonelier plain where nothing seemed to be living on his neighbour's shoulder within rifleshot sylvan seclusion was restored in an instant swaying in the storm a few paces from the cabin they disposed themselves variously

34

35

apart from supporting

those summer letters he learned or resolved a trick of memory or of style

wisdom not to be denied from the sounds and smells

fit for a dissertation

trying to embody a moral ideal conscious political sentiment was rare corresponding to logical propositions moved in a direction to be described later on its own conversation in the various senses hangs on his absolutely morbid conviction that he is certain he will die

must be a better way underground or wherever he goes during that time stylised practice
popped open considered withdrawal windows

without further negotiations

depth perception was enhanced

the shiny puddle at her feet moved out of state announcing to the world what was phony to begin with

the vast generic tumble included a certain assumption at regular intervals traces of colour minute increments of experience jolted up an incline into mexican night every fragment rushed away outlined against the white flashlight's beam samples of her blood back in the car reversed the pure design of some big deal

at their best in supposed adversity backed up by a work-rate that slid offthe face homebased journeymen collected enough bonus to put their hosts whose reflexes were attuned
on edge

under renewed pressure in a specialist trap supercilious critics lip-reading after winter contemplated their failure to soldier on

36

37

as frantic public relations delivering this cryptic warning began clearing a path to their door isolating the active element simply by their own perceptions the shadow passed through a magnifying glass first as an infant in a leper colony then a figure seeking a way to share space and time through the subtle use of clues part of the cultural static

when they arrived there was no response newspapers scattered across the floor discarded clothing the apartment still smelled ofpasteboard cartons

hurried forward making a breathy whirr he put out his cigar after a moment's hesitation cigarette smoke hottg past them, descended from the darkness skittered away
she

a very strange kind of intervention led to the conclusion

time is also finite further apart

when you subtract infinity although this technique is rather dubious travelling in a certain direction an isolated system always increases the matter particles get from the point of view of trying thus memory passes faster than Iight too rapidly to join up di sordered arrangements

whistling near the river primary colours and childlike perspectives economically in competition wired them together to be part of the struggle from the far side of the clearing rain made tiny rivulets intense but so fleeting when the last coin was gone in front of his typewriter faltering into silence he rearranged the drapes high above his head almost daily routine

38

39

across the street surveillance of the premises

a record of

attractions

cooked by the landlady

watched them dancing crisp and clear and sharp

in silhouette
unrelieved by sunshine the changlng temperature could get colder incessant chatter trying to pierce his skull he kept one forefinger pressed through the inexorable cycle the elevator ground its way without any concrete result

of a shrinking variety world developed a slightly different cachet the moment pen reached paper some frantic scissoring filled his basket with iron weights

drifted to another world built before the war dressing hurriedly in the dark packed before creditors arrived swathed in mohair rugs in muted colours morale was at zero

major acts reshaping the period proved a paralysing choice a crucial feature quoted but never fully explained at the very core experienced as arbitrary government undermining the independence of towns to reassert central control from the mobilisation of resources despite the risk of an immeasurably greater alarm conscious of difference under the law

each district commander set the boat further adrift,

its extremities shading to indigo deepening to a tone appropriate in some resPects it weaved and danced there black fungus grew in the corners an opening in its shell pushed fanciful ideas aside
stretched and stretched as he waited for a reply

misty at first creeping towards the front to banish dreams

40

47

ends of white

railing

because of her ideas

remember where he found the pole: water

was the lantern from which she watched him erect, rigid beneath his hair still damp from this distance shivering in the dissolving sky jolting a little against certain improbable crises to feel concussed air beyond the down-plunging man

meaning is fluid so deep it cannot be purely ideological

a statistician's viewpoint old at the time it was done

despite their overwhelming numbers

a

city of corpses

drew no distinctions enforcement became easier

fitting finale historically necessary calculated in proportion to income by the individual in question
a

they look at one another with the nervous expectancy of a revolver loaded with blanks seeing a nest prepared quicker than the time it took something to despise the street that sensed his cardiac engine prodding the lyric with a quick dip in hot wax reluctantly across shooting red and blue flames

experience -- the sudden rush of concentrated delusiveness a race between sounds the luminous, priceless

fumblings of uninstructed people dimly aware how surprisingly stable is soon to be shaky in cycles, like stars waiting till dawn universally tired altered past recognition of personal individuality shutting only ugliness out when that sudden light comes

42

43

sight indeed seemed unbidden and uninvited before frost blew backed by luxury from her barely opened mouth painfully by his shoulder in the direction of the vast waxed hardwood floor they heard his rib smite her optic nerve
to

you will also be breathing the tune back and forth from past experience containing music and other noise-makers now somewhat oxidized

jelly

a sound almost eerie as death

passing through lips and nostrils

sunlight glittered on her appointment book while we sipped hot tea far more disturbing formal and shiny a whole network of cracks more or less intact not having a front door

the thing apart had been going to tell me the darkness beyond made of solid still reflected light a deal higher up close to the surface there's a fake wall small and wide-set lines on his forehead used to be a back staircase sprang up from the path empty, a couple used modern clinks with pastel

sat still in contemplation

within the apartment

the aphrodisiac of animal terror demanded long hours of work shot full of holes in a ctazy weave with possible infrdelity where sections of thick flooring sagged dangerously. pools of water along a moss-covered pathway fluttered open, closed, open again by the time his body tumbled frenziedly out of bed and his breathing had slowed

44

45

talk of national socialism was crushed with great brutality to prepare this force which had resisted democracy
confused by the intervention ruthlessly swept aside just before a general improvement and the market system create a satisfying atmosphere the autonomy statute suspended wages during the war a manifestation of the degeneracy which gave the new regime revolutionary preten sions

disturbed by this strange phenomenon easily washed by rainwater a well-informed person twist that around as him will enjoy electrical enerry understandably alarming to the public but others argue people seeking redress may well receive exposure to naturally occurring radiation shooting through their bodies a device called a grtd intensely at close ranges before indoor showers

a replica of itself will point the direction

Ieaving only a line of force scarcely loose enough to cover fluctuations of randomly weak interactions reverse all the molecules possessing negative inertial mass the contracting pulse constantly being recycled must have a minor image a glaring instance binding together electromagnetic waves

lighter out of her hand he closed the door carefully less tentatively this time not Iooking her in the eye red through scarlet and pink
welcomed when

it

came

riding around in the back a space in the middle transformed the involuntary thrill to try to deal with it down on the edge of a chair wide and forty inches wide on a knot in the veneer
dreamed up by fashionable

46

47

obliquely phrased conversations dropped in during the evening others did differently had one child, a son poverty is true but natural a remarkable range of tones hot engine oil sun through fog a split second of fear being broken apart through prescriptive frames full of a particular item the sound of another voice astonishingly tolerant

if you think
back anyhow she promptly gave with a start, spilling what lay beneath the tarpaulin coming from him the information didn't stand cross-examination talking away to beat the band

two danish pastries the glass was crystal transferring some business through the weather you ll get a good tip whether you get into this thing or avoid aggravation

forces

that operate

grey stone house just inside

in such an electrically shielded place the needle turned on its axis

a charge on amber or glass are regarded as side effects

strange and implausible stronger the closer you get in the period before hypnosis this simple re-orientation presents an intricate, complex

picture of matter bound tightly to its constituent electron currents with the brain in a region

the law's assistance she first tried to get to sleep with a telescope on top he can see for himself against the mesh, screeching to let himself believe it halfway up her thigh working a corkscrew faster than reality he grabbed a carton of cigarettes hours before anyone stopping heard her sing it all over the bricks

48

49

headlights illuminated the ceiling with a kind of excitement you could see several moles on the glass-topped table during the next hour sympathies would always be more unmistakably lit as eyes lose their focus when the subject becomes routine beneath this one after black coffee there was another motive she could assemble slowly

sharply defined periods of individualism fade with age, as a rule sensation is registered expanded around me the substrate of emotions merely act as gatekeePers disrupted by stress unlike scientific instruments gripped by hands reversed right to left an inhibition of the recall mechanism caused by oxygen shortage swamps the cortex before we know about the external world

curious how little eyidence survives of this large flourishing region

some trace of the scars

weakening international language remained as an element in the valleys while Iabour was cheap in the form of minor

to improve social behaviour according to the disposition of mind harmony must contemPlate

fairly realistic portraits

sanctuaries of colour and music

feudal services which could be organized in more coherent instruments for repression a new and rapidly expanding trade moments of revulsion were rare indulged in with caution

in other cubicles until all communicate with the dead emotionally they are cold the capacity to concentrate deteriorates visual efiiciency, manual skill as well as psychic comPonents drift in random sequence an attempt to turn blue
suggests accomPli shment

50

51

ones

initial reaction is stunned belief

a small but well-stocked kitchen enclosed by a barbed chainlink fence

out in the middle of the road focussed and unfocussed

maintaining the same distance the doctor checked him with a gesture pointing to a circular florescent plate on which was carved the symbol
of acceleration

digital numbers glow

boxes of food are everywhere surrounded by thin rings of ice

despite the heat saffron and basil saturate the air sprouted by the doorstep windows painted opaque white

mottled with brown beginning to slough off

during the hottest hours every motion was untaught metre night came, and he sent part of his consciousness outward through the soft soil no houses or signs of human life in the visual freld the world drab black from decay

an arrangement of prisms and triangles otherwise neutral subjects

Iatent in technolory could not be rolled back by the intersection of planes in all their casual brightness forms sunk to near-ilegibility at a common Ievel as spectacle prevent him from seeing clearly sharp tonal contrasts nature even in between strange contortions can still pick with accuracy then fuse in a complete form

more sensitive phonecalls since the last recorded entry paying or giving back the money saving a very patriotic objective poured himself a coffee devoid of imagination
spaced around its

front

with no communication from the top steady tone that's interesting a persuasive argument before he made his move this taste of the arts flashed fire on the horizon one can no longer excuse or forget

52

53

moral principles so fresh and crisp challenge the natural state of affairs still warped from having been folded in the same place envelopes came sliding through to be in his vicinity at close range he turned on the bulb angled over a washbasin rashly to forsake anonymity with a compensatory grin astonished that the stack emitted one word for every half dozen

faint blue stripe slender with a lovely line soared magnificently up reached a noisy climax then disappeared he woke in a room strange to him emerging into view feet first she struggled, beat the mattress jerked her hand free put his glass on the windowsill the wrapper had slipped off a state of complete exhaustion disclosing a red tile floor an odour of damp mould

knuckles on his left, hand free of matted blood routing po ssible follow-ups out of the hospital she realised it was too cold to express condolences in prison phone clues keep quiet and happy scuttlebutt fi ltered through instincts subsided into a ]ow simmer she blew a lazy smoke ring spoke less in tirades the silents were moving take your picture now

new research areas the sequence diverges!

in the places signified the iteration converges! joining neighbouring values to construct convincing natural forms upon which one could rely should not be so great as to obliterate everything but the edges of the model space in the air between them without true perspective which generates slanting lines in the basin crumpling only up

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we could turn to get this message a few words phonetically achieving escape velocity dancing towards me near dawn as if by accident

soon the survivors possessed a culture much older

believed the information even beset by civil discord

if

missing pieces of information synchronise its release on a conscious basis animals always saw in the most economical fashion it makes no difference we are now cut off

driving a wedge in the teeth of opposition between those who had suffered able to stand the loss and the novelty of the situation they made a great thrust along the last fringe that was to protect her with improved antiseptics and anaesthetics from suicide and bankruptcy

emphasising the purely decorative history repeats itself using shading to explain form equal introspection in the viewer reveals the disillusion inherent in it

eliminated -- there is no depth to the story but an attempt to handle the masses within yet the idea does point how comfortable he had become extending the group of buildings with a minimum of effort into limitless blue or grey a window is completely empty

looking for shelter will cause change to support a habit into the grinders all were watching their terminals flowering after the long winter the search had gone much further down the project past the edifrces turned silvery with Iight
too

bright

to help her before malfunctioning encased in flames we hurried along

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they met in an empty classroom talked stratery and philosophy deepest levels of the self treated with a chemical substance out of dreams, visions, intuitions eternally turned toward some total moment when the screen laughed without knowing how or why he turned off the radio to believe it picked out of the Iandscape small polished objects materials for deep interpretation in the structure of reality

the mysteries, they held nervous despondency white pillars moving in semi-darkness blue wings, blue robes, the sun not dazzling but soft suggested he should inspire a current of magical force the significance of these passages finally produced paintings unapparent to others better results than pure ritual unaffected by the alterations his psyche had entered

sequence into early morning all seemed strange fenced in, isolated from the city he heard a vast rustling

she saved his correspondence

narcissus petals floating down tagged with an extra recollection

of what they'd done

create coincidences so bizarre he imagined accidents all the time against this awareness
she unzips her skirt interested in the way covert training disappears in its own glow

others couldn't fail to notice crawling with ants enhanced and rendered within her submerged trap absolutely alone all day any attempt at ordinary mysticism took form
once found out there would be no time for fear composed wholly of expression in no hurry to leave geometric guidelines never made an error

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in a haze of nerve-gas he fell backwards in pure reflex drifted down the access tube
of references altered to magni$r a feeling of rightness abstract patterns shifting into jagged vertical tattoos whirling the line through long arcs learning to adjust the way flames leapt in all that magnificence into flashing monochrome images created in his wake

TOM RAWORTH Born in London, England, in 1938, Tom Raworth was educated at St. Joseph's Academy in Blackheath, London. Between leaving school in 1954 and attending the University of Essex in 1967, Raworth undertook several different jobs as an insurance clerk, a builders'laborer, a packer, assistant transport manager, and a continental telephone operator. In 1959 he taught himself how to set type and to print books, and between then and 1964 produced a magazine, Outburst, and a series of small books. In I-965, in partnership with the painter and filmmaker Barry HaIl, he started Goliard Press, working there until 1967, when it was taken over by Jonathan Cape. That same year he attended the University of Essex, where he studied Spanish and took his B.A. in Latin American Literature. He was awarded his Master's Degree in the Theory and Practice of Literary Translation in 1970. Over the next two years he visited the United States and Canada several times on reading tours, and from the autumn of t972 until L977 he lived in the United States (and briefly in Mexico), teaching at Bowling Green State University, Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of Texas. Since the end of 1977 he has lived with his wife, Margaret

full

Valaire Murphy, and their five children in

Cambridge, England.

CXI 1988 Cambridge 1990

Raworth's many books of poetry include The Relation Ship, The Big Green Doy (t968), A Serial Biography (1969 and 1977), Lion Lion and Betrayal (1970), Mouing (L971), Act (1973), Tottering State: Selected Poems, 1963-83 (1984), Lazy Left Hand

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in

(1986), Visible Shiuers (1987), and Selected Poems 1963-87 (1988). He has had pubtications in more than ten countries, and has been awarded the Alice Hunt Bartlett Pize in 1970 and the Cholmondely Award
1971.

ing Ted Berrigan and Robert Creeley, Raworth

Close friend to numerous American poets, includhas

continued to have an influence on both American and British poetry through his extensive reading tours. Like his poetry, Raworth's performances are marked by quick and mercurial mental shifts. As Colin MacCabe has written in The Times Literary Supplement of Raworth's writing: "Raworth's minimal unfreezing the frame, of cutting across the certainties of eye and larynx. . We continue to read poetry within a culture which gives central importance to literary tradition, and to recognizable divisions between writers and readers. Raworth's poetry makes an implicit Utopian demand for a culture without such divisions, or such a centre."

line, with rarely more than four words and little punctuation, is crucially important to the process of