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    -- word biscuit --
    
                    -- all nuzzlely edition --
    
                                      01-17-99 -- ray heinrich
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 well, more or less (but still in love) 
  -ray


  






             < we were these dogs >
        
        beneath the cliffs
        waves 
        breaking at our feet
        white 
        and black
        and mixed
        and breeding
        all of us
        shaped 
        like the future we knew would come
        panting
        slowly
        
                    - - -
      














    < a newer new newness nestles snugly >
        
        and huddles up and burrows 
        curls 
        nuzzlely
        against you


                - - -














             < you >
       
        you have never left me
        there is always 
        some echo of you
        late
        when it's quiet
        
              - - -












        
          < side by side >
        
        on the kitchen counter
        warm beer
        cold tea
        
              - - -
        










  


                 < flowers >
         
        spring ones 
        frozen and dying in the surprise of winter
        and of a dream 
        without mercy
        and my mom 
        warning me of paper clips 
        and electric outlets 
        (i tried them anyway)
        
                    - - -
        














         < all barnedup & nobleized >
        
        that small bookstore around the corner
        is a dry-cleaner's now
        as my town 
        becomes barnedup & nobleized
        
        but zuzu's petals (http://www.zuzu.com/)
        i never expected it of you 
        (though of course
         you started holding poetry contests 
         a while back 
         so i guess 
         it was just 
         a matter of time)
        
        next 
        i expect 
        you'll start selling 
        third-world kidneys and livers 
        to raise money 
        to spread the habit of literature 
        to the rest of us 
        who will be buying it 
        (of course)
        all barnedup & nobleized
        
                   - - -
















            < heat >
        
        when i sleep
        you seem far away
        sometimes inches
        and i need you close 
        paper close 
        to the heat
        of your sun 
        
             - - -














           < love dream >
        
        a pattern for hell
        discovered
        on your newest shoe
        and as i lick it
        and try to clean it off
        you imagine 
        it's your genitalia
        but 
        it's just a boot
        and not even
        my favorite flavor
        
                - - -


















    < another pattern for hell >
        
        your panty hose
        wrapped gently 
        around your neck
        leave only enough air
        to realize
        you 
        have no control
        it's those republicans
        or your mom 
        or dad 
        or maybe 
        that seventh boss of yours
        and if you only had a gun 
        of course there wouldn't be tomorrow
        but 
        you don't 
        and so there's miles to drive 
        to pick up kids 
        and make some bucks 
        to buy those shoes
        or not
        the hurt 
        the rocks
        they throw 
        can be ignored
        
            - - -


















                 < knowing >


    i once slept with a woman who knew
    and once
    yes
    even a man
    and it doesn't take much
    just some night 
    and not being able 
    to find 
    your favorite flavor of ice cream
    or not being able
    to find
    your child alive
    this 
    in El Salvador and you don't have to wonder why 
    i'm always delighted in any aspect 
    of ronald reagon's sufferings


                     - - - 
















             < paint >
 
        stuck to your nails
        and every day you go
        and do this
        make 
        these colors
        successful
        and after all these years
        you measure this
        by the ones you sell
        ('they're a piece of me' 
          you said
         'that i will never shed') 
        but now you say
        that it's ok
        that it's just sharing
        that it's power
        that it's we need more space 
        inside this room
        
               - - -
















           < beautiful >
        
        it's dawn
        and the fine horizon
        is just defined
        and you
        sleeping by me
        are beautiful
        sleeping by me
        
              - - -


















             < miracles >
        
        you can love me
        without fucking me
        you can sleep with me
        night after night
        through thirteen years 
        of depression
        when you should have shot me
        when you should have left
        when i should have shot me
        or shouldn't have 
        cause it was just 
        some chemicals
        and when i took some others
        it mostly 
        went away 
        leaving only 
        the dreams 
        and you
        still there
        fixing me up
        telling me things 
        even you 
        didn't believe
        but you stayed 
        anyway
        in sickness and in health
        and what can i say
        when i can't even 
        show you this
        
              - - -
        












        
          < down >
        
        waking
        next to you
        layered on me
        a warm goose 
        am i
        mating for life
        against
        your fine down
        
            - - -
        








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  - legal notes - subscribe info - back issues - bio - copyright -


    legal notes:
    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 
    them in a good, honest fish.


    subscription info:
    if you're not a registered subscriber and would like to 
    receive 'word biscuit' irregularly (of course it's free), 
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    back issues can be found at:
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    stock bio:
    ray heinrich is an ex-texas technofreak and hippie-socialist
    wannabe who lives on the outskirts of washington d.c.  
    he writes poems for thrills and attention.  over the years 
    his work has appeared in many small, insignificant publications 
    both in and out of cyberspace.  in real life he repairs computers,
    has always been married, loves dogs, and owns a blue fish.
     
    copyright notice:
    all this is copyright 1999 by ray heinrich and the free 
    state of dogs.  comments are VERY welcome (send to:
    ray@scribbledyne.com ), 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
    -- i'm not wearing any pants though the shirt i used to wear 
    had a quote on it from noam chomsky and i still have some 
    chew marks left on me by a small, obstinate poodle who was
    curled up, sleeping, resting his head on my feet a few minutes 
    ago but is now upstairs barking at a squirrel. 


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