Robert Budde

Poems

Dreamland Theatre

© Robert Budde, 2010

Published by wink books. Composed in Adobe InDesign.

wink books265 King DrivePrince George BCV2M 5R1rbudde@shaw.ca

dreamland theatre

Hwy #16

a poetics of interruption, greensigns that names exist, shifts in zones of code, the topography a knowledgein the syntax of riversthat can kill you

the weather is from the north and westa text tracking eyebut the water flows everywhereeven here

on the new highway the poet’s teachertalks behind the poem pointingout the old homesteads, overgrown roads

each valley is a climatea tincture, a spool of vegetationveering away from the asphalt, axles refusing the traffic laws, progresssliding in mud, a bloom of spores

travel was a finger pointedat a spot up the valley—now the highway goes around, longer,inefficient; and old hazelton exists apart,a benchmark, an anthology of poemsfrom the predecessors, dedicationsinscribed in finding one’s way.

The New Economy

How must it beto be caught in the Empire, to haveeverything you do matter? --John Newlove

the forecast is forcastes of greater and lesserand the charts glaze overwith want

the bubble is water and air;the tipping point is a mean temperature

hedges are like properly brokenlines—in keeping with property valuesbut the risk is not yours

bookings are accessed by writersof wealth and exemptions aboundin derivative contracts, leverage, recognizable structures and the liquidity of investmentin the empire

no need to listen: certainty surrounds the oldeconomy—playing with oneselfhas always been a good bet

self-absorption is a hemisphericphenomenon and cancels outthe emotional use of languageand how it addresses the animal

futures, forwards, options and swapsare the only way one line can move to the nextin the empire

pyramids cover with sand

unless the word has no operatingleverage, I have no interest in itsprofit, poetic value has noplace in reasons for imaginary debt

and so, eventually, comes clean

The Regions of Out

traces of the town unsettledlike populations of who

terrace’s mill shipped outon flatbeds of gas and oiland the mall fills with associations

is a name sustainable? are bar conversationsa poetics of the north? is the way out commercialdrive and shop?

a fistfight on the shoreover access, modes of usebut none of them really work

stanley, belford, purdy, & newlovethe paths and waterwaysknowing the overgrowth of living language

i travel the regions listeningfor the old ways, a funky answerto an 1890’s question

Walking with Ken

down Victoria, or up the hillthrough crescents to Central, the powerstilted away from speech before it is and then rethinking why

Cranbrook Hill by the Dakelh nameand the cutbanks surround the cupped hands taking and givingwhile Ken speaks of outside, the Nassand Blackwater where the mountains are reflected, uncertainty and systems begin to inform the masses I would not want to beanywhere else but walkingwith Ken, thinking about howto stand and not betray —if we were on a lakeit would be in a strong, well-madecanoe unlike the oneI leave in the yard unwritten

‘En Cha Khuna’ for George & Marilyn Iwama

Nechako and Fraser, twolanguages and a thirddiscovery, on the south-side portage: a recollection, a passingpassion to move on

or stayby need or want, the provisionscarried from the east and westthe salmon run, at least then, steady and sure on that dayin 1907, I would say to you‘snachailya, musicho’as a guest and co-explorerof inside

the plateauof watersheds, neural directionswe take from topography,wood a texture against our backsas we rest, historicize, work

in a different economy,a training of tongues tocarry this wet ‘lh’, ora collective barrier protectingthis lake, this place

up here wherethere is no pressure to conformto urban forms—here, identity isa new vehicle, cleaner, smarterand knowing how to say it

ashes across the pass

the sound of land, wet and stopped, alternatinglanguage and substance, subjectand object, lostin a host’s presence

and how he greets you—the welcome isstone glottal and aspirantwistful over the river

(but that river bend, that oneover past the joining, that one isnot for you)

problem: standing on the ground (yun)double dawning like that otheridea spoken to you and (‘ust’oh) you are

like days of the week and workethic and the lord’s order/layers of speech when the young girl saysshe is not coming home

the language comes like (I am) a four-year-old

an uncertain anger for a verbits sound eluding your tongue

For Barry after Creeley’s “For W.C.W.”

the fragment more there than say you

*

then, too, the bastards spend themselves going somewhere

a record of the poet’s insistence on context, repeating all that would

*

writing the moment to crisis

the inverted tree (absurdity or a poetics of rage transplanting around the idea

what is givento write

*

what one wants iswhat one wants some something or other

the line yourscarries an adamant distance

here

gas station meat

flattened out, a red spotsplash on the highway

shapes in the cheesy logo of who you are trying not to stareat the cashier’s protein using too muchb/c you don’t have the righttires and self-gratification is easy whereliving isn’t some CEO in Californiais laughing at us foods that rot quickly are better for you;other creatures don’t wantmost of the stock,clamped shut, a sphincterof few nutrients preservedfor archaeologists wonderingwhat went wrong

all the faces stare back at you;the cooler fills with steamy breathhnghgnhgnhgnhgnnggnngngngn

hexis nexus

Not to care is not owning but lettingAristotle work over the language.An energy of negative pedagogy and getting help to clear out of boxes of stuff.If you don’t know what is in the baggage,it is better to let it go somewhere else. Rocks say sedimentation is for a reason. Hold on not to the material word butits use; taste the air, flood the fertile space with habitus and bark chips. Security is knowing more knowledge is coming. I would not be big enough to hurt another person. At a moment of danger, being un-equiped means more. Some would say stressis a badge of honour, a sign of success. I wait by the river wondering what will pass by today and waste whatever’s left.

Inside the Outside

a report from the regions:tensor-stretchedperception of geographical(that rise away from the Nechako,that course heading south) markers overlappedthought on the wrist,the phatic motion of pen,minor literature lettersin english and not

“say that again and i’llkick your teeth in”

a bilingual paracolonialshuffling at the outskirtsof the poetics conference, an athleticlistening to the subtext of the local

a performing arts centrewhere the parkade is now:same clientele; engines idle in the BCR sitesend PM2.5 coughs to interrupt the aesthete voice

for each asthmatic kida new condo in Kitsalano

equations are too easy in a land of drift and secrecy—a man found, hands tiedto the steering wheel of a burning truck

a real poet would knowthat feeling

what story would you haveme tell? a moose sighting? an evergreen glade paradise?back country gumption? it wouldtake a lot of work to learn that style

there are other inklings beneath the provincial arc of knowledge

inside this place is no furthertranscendence, no special issue theme, no apologies for being (Eon)later, sooner (pre-), or back.

manmade creek

the gold itselfbidding on semantics wherethe stocks are a wiki entryfor small stream near wells bcwhere art swells from the water table

the icon is stainlesssteel and repainted biannually

the car stop stanza breakis for a northern copy of acopy of false creekand its undoing

an invasive poetics would beaimed not at reshapingbut lack of vision

what else might be said passespast the ditch and embraces whatceases to exist

the deliberate culvert clogs springlyand willows are an american inventionmade from an invader species

the photo ends upstaking a claim on itselfand losing it

The Controlled Burn

Seeds unlocked nutrients, the stock is sprung, ignition cracks through clouds, unstacked the faller’s logbooks fall and the biomass is maintained. Sediment corrects itself and recalibratesthe general economy with no road in. You see, the mercantilist narrativecan’t live here and I will never exportthe poetics of land. The line is strucka careful interaction with the historyof poetry. Where the edges are, a glimmerof smoldering sense hushes and goes out.

the largest service centre

perfectly situated at the crossroads of two major highways and twowater ways also the junction for the alaska highway 786km from one of four secure custody centers in it both open and secure custody based one of those gateways you first visit on business also a staging centre for mining and prospecting currently experiencing bolstered by a body of reporters from 100 mile house through smithers a leader in all facets of business and intends to be northern ‘s fastest growing call centre market a great place to currently experiencing enormous growth and improvement located in the center of a vast with many assets an excellent choice for professional customer service the perfect place to retreat after a hard days work now home to 416 low a northern capital a bustling of 80 changing a vibrant of 70 located at the confluence of the fraser and nechako rivers located at the confluence about 800 km from located in known as a northern located in the north central region of at the junctions of highways 97 and 16 the fourth largest in “right in the middle of it all” not any worse than the rest of the province in this category a manufacturing and distribution center for an agricultural and lumbering region a hub of activity offering visitors an

only local rival for impressive architecture becoming one of the west’s most popular snowmobiling destinations home to approximately 65 the largest centre in our region not allowed ideal for those who utilize public transit or who located in central approximately 496 miles from the primary trade and service area of 110 the regional service centre for post secondary education located on a spur of land at the confluence of the fraser and nechako rivers located right in the middle of and the regional centre of business located about 400 miles north of vancouver on the fraser river the voice for volunteerism in all about here one of the cornerstones of this strategy the only one of its type known to be preserved or to survive in canada one of canada’s investment hot spots pleased to announce that a family has been selected for our first build the main of the central interior bad known as the northern capital of a regional icon and a jewel in the crown of fast becoming the jewel of conveniently situated in the downtown core for all those reasons dependent on the logging industry for its economy a mid the getaway that has it all a cozy of 60 a sports persons parade

very excited as another prestigious event comes to our in the heart of northern the major transportation hub situated at the confluence of two rivers and surrounded by extensive boreal forests service driven of the opinion simply not true

The Great Outdoors

and what is found there, your ownthreshold holding onto the architecture,leaving the frame inflected with fear

and here you are—the meaninglessfields and where they end, endlessmetaphors for feeling green

—envy, I suppose; a hope growsthat the land would have us back

until then, the scene is setplastic molds whole rangescupped into mouths—the huntingrambler, a beautiful trophy,a small consolationin a sad artful epidemic

wink books ©2010265 King Drive

Prince George BC V2M 5R1