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-- word biscuit --
-- turkey sandwich edition --
12-13-98 -- ray heinrich
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my dog spelled this out on the ouija board last night:
"true iron sweats rust"
-ray
p.s. the quote marks were the hardest part
< but since the gods ordained it all >
the dog laughs
i keep my mouth shut
my new car
off in the ditch
"lucky to have missed that tree"
some old man says
spreading a blanket
incredibly warm
(i can see the stars
without my glasses
Orion's belt
just above the trees)
- - -
< hammerless >
petty
bothersome
nail of a day
just have to wait
til it rusts away
- - -
< words >
and words come
in most shapes and sizes
and words say
what they shouldn't
(and what they should)
and words
can be said by anybody
(and their sister and brother
and neighbor and mother)
and words
(though you imprison them
and torture them
and even
ignore them)
will always
be said
- - -
< adaptable >
could you pass me that machete?
my roof's on fire
(months later)
the stars
such a view!
- - -
< "TURN YOUR POEMS INTO YOUR VERY OWN BOOK.
E-mail for complete details to: TPBooks@aol.com" >
too late
i've already turned them into
easy cash
as part of a weight reduction program
it was simple
easy
and surprisingly delicious
and now
with the time i've saved
i've become my very own
home business
turning myself
into those big bucks
most people
only dream about
- - -
< what we say >
what we say
"it's never enough"
drifts
"but someday you will"
and piles up
"i didn't mean that"
until it's deep enough
"you never mean that"
- - -
< scenario 271, the world ends >
entirely intentional
promiscuously preventional
retroactively existentional
- - -
< but once he'd swallowed down the sparrow with her brood >
it was another day
and he was hungry
and long
(a joke snakes make to themselves)
and though it amused him
and even summed him up
it never
satisfied him
- - -
< where's bill gates? >
my software
refuses to work
even though i am
a vestal virgin
i need to find him
and strangle him
- - -
< beauty >
this writing we do
is not owned by microsoft
thought it would be
if it were useful or valuable
which is the beauty
of this writing we do
- - -
< north country >
the north country
was down south for me
and that's why i came north
(it's that simple)
i was dreaming you were bob dylan singing about joan baez
and when you woke up
i
was still listening
- - -
< right now >
leaving reds
and oranges
a sunset
and some browns
fall
- - -
< azaleas >
every year
one or two blossoms
open in the fall
(right about now)
just can't wait
- - -
< crossing >
your letter
still reads the same
still reminds me
of the border
mexico
texas
and all
- - -
< three dogs >
three dogs running
along a road
their tongues
hanging wet
and shiny in the sun
and they wrap me
in a history
the kind that's forgotten
they wrap me in their tongues
all wet in the sun
- - -
< turkey sandwiches >
your parents were rich
as we enjoyed their pool
and a turkey sandwich
and i was hopelessly in love
with you
and your pool
and your maid
who made us turkey sandwiches
and you
just couldn't decide
as i slept in my car
night after night
pretending
i was in town on business
but you
were my only job
- - -
< wanting >
always wanting
something new
of course
at least
until it comes
hurricanes
and floods
and the catch
of a smile
as someone
you just met
turns
and you swim
through the rest of the day
making what you felt
into worlds
many of them
stretching
into morning
- - -
_______________________________________________________________
and...
all registered subscribers to 'word biscuit' have my
sympathy as well as my permission to publish any
individual poem or poems contained within it
(or the whole dang thing if you get to feeling like it)
so long as you obtain no commercial or barter
considerations in exchange for such copies, it's not
part of any pro-republican campaign literature, and
you do it within two years of its original publication
date. anything else requires my permission which might
be obtained (depending on the mood i'm in) by writing to
me at: ray@scribbledyne.com -- and yes, i love it every
time someone is amused enough to make copies and send
them to friends, pass them out on street corners, read
them in coffeehouses, post them in laundromats, or wrap
a good, honest fish in them.
if you're not a registered subscriber and would like to
receive 'word biscuit' irregularly (of course it's free),
just send an email saying something like yes to:
ray@scribbledyne.com -- and don't forget gift subscriptions
for your friends, relatives, and casual acquaintances.
back issues can be found at:
http://wordbiscuit.com/
all this is copyright 1998 by ray heinrich and the free
state of dogs. comments are VERY welcome, ALWAYS read
and LOVED as proof that someone out there acknowledges my
existence, but not always responded to which is a greedy,
selfish act on my part which i'm trying not to commit
quite as often, but... you take your chances (of course
if you're a healthy, independent sort and you really mean
exactly what you say then just go ahead and send anything
you want to: ray@scribbledyne.com and i'm not wearing any
pants though the shirt i had on had a quote on it from
noam chomsky and some chew marks left by a small, obstinate
poodle who is curled up, sleeping, resting his head on my
feet as i write this).
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end
well, almost...
newest stock bio:
ray heinrich reorders the same damn words over and
over and again and again and if you're someone who
actually likes to read this stuff then the universal
paranoid they thinks you're obsolete but take heart
cause the same they said the same thing about the
dinosaurs and the dinosaurs just smiled, burped a bit,
and ate them.
newer stock bio:
ray heinrich lives in the washington d.c. area. for many
years his work has appeared quite randomly in and out of
cyberspace. a while ago, in an effort to avoid the constant
and usually futile bickering with the editors of various
publications, ray decided to publish himself in his own
"word biscuit e-letter". now it's worse.
older stock bio:
ray heinrich is an ex-texas technofreak and hippie-socialist
wannabe who writes poems for thrills and attention. over the
years his work has appeared in many small, insignificant
publications. in real life he repairs computers, has always
been married, loves dogs, and owns a blue fish.
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