PS

3562E9 257T6

I'TO BE A D ISCREPANCYcLEvELAM''

SANGAMON

STATE UNIVERSITY

SPBINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

DATE DUE

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)BEADISCREPANCY IN

byd. a,. levy

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CLEVELANf),,

:jAN(iAMON 'lIAII llfllv. MIRARY

"to be a discrepancy in cleveland"poems by d. a. levy

publlshed by RADICAL A,'4ER lCAadditional copies avalLablethrouqh IiA at 1878 Massachusetts Ave.Cambridoe, MA 02140 // bu]-lK rateson reque st

poems reprlnted fromt ukanGhost Press, Clevelarrd 1

Qu lxote Press ' Madlson,Poems, also by Qtt lx ote.

hav y r fuck in ci tibakPocms by 1evy,.-r nd 'the Mad i son

title from cleveland undercovers, part II3

IIOW, that's why there are more poetsin cal lforn lait beinq more romantlc towreck in san F'ranclsc.J thanto be a dlscrepancy ln Cl"eveLand.

selectlon and afterword by Ann Gordonand Kate Gyl len svard

cover ptloto frorn ).evyr s TlbetanStrotroscopei eonerete Poem, P. 25from the Madlson poem s.

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c leve Iand undercoverspart I

SOMETIIIES CITY i walk at darqnpast the trucl',s parkedon Ehe cold mornings edgeof the o1d viaduct to look atthe sore mouth of the Cuyahogaeating and eaten bv the dawnand the city and iKl'lOl\'lITCin the east a new sun is risingand Ehe gras s is growingon the ashes of the cityr,rhere once i was bornwalking in the dawnwhere once in a shopping centeri slipped lnto my centerand listened to the others singand see-saw something of myselfas they sang of the clty," IIha t can you expect?when you wake in the morningand find a republican tugboattied to the foot of your bed."but that was then andN0\l i am, and do not expecttomorrow or yesterday today.instead, i r,rrite in exstacyand when someone stops to sayrrl1ey, thaE t s not true !rri ),e11 backwards,"Ior who and fuck rhyme.i have a clty to cover with 1ines,with textured words &

the sweaty bricl:-flesh images of adrunhen tied-up whorehouse cowtownsprawling & brar.rling on its baclc

As the lakefront ratsrace from rock to rock 1lke medival monkarace from door to door looklng for godi. amus e roy s e 1f , 1o oklngfor Shu & Ptah or the l{eb-Sed Ceremony1n a crystal to11et bowl glves me vlslons1 paint then El Greco in ny headand toss a few angels ln the skypJ-aylng plastlc harps that pluckthe strlngs of the black lake &the stleets wlth magtcal naneschallenge me....

if l palnt WINDERMEREon my apartment door llke aPennsylvanla Dutch hex s lgnr,111 it keep the angel of death away?

if i CtCh MAG}IOLIAon the Instltute of }tuslcwill the south ris e agalnas llaitlan angels sacrifice chlckensto the music of Hindernlth?

if i scratch SC0VILLon Severance Ha 11wl11 George Sze11 lose hls temperand the ce11os pop their strings1n terrlfled ecstasy?

if i !,,rlte ERIEin pastels next to the hitchen sink &the mushroom stones..wtll some decrepltarcheoJ-ogist c1lmb out of the drainirlth f11nt arrowheads or.obsidian flg-urines wrapped in his fat handkerchief?

1f i inscrlbe l.{E1!{P l{ I S

on the bathroom iko nwt11 i have a protestant illuminatlonor excremental vislons overwhelm me?

my god eye seems to haveno cltv to s ee.1 look lnto the mlnd of ltand smlle knowlngLt 1s young and becomlng one

1 st111 have a clty to cover r,rlth 1lnes.

ONE DEATH IN TIIE LIFE OF JULIE

she runs up to meher arms wi.de openas 1f to drown meLn some passionate &

childish embrace

& SHoUTS My Nameunder Lhe neon of adeles

the s oundechoing i.n rhelonellness

her volce

in the afternoon perhaps?

ln fxont of the art museum!

JULI E

her hair in the wlndin a fifteen yr olds d.anceshouts my name &

it ahrays sounds l-1ke

the cold wlnds dance as shewaits for her fatherto pick her up &

take her home

but other timesJulie in the afternoon& our paths accidentall-y

cross downto\^1n

Iiow Can Thev Put s o IIANYIIAPPY C0LORS in someones face?

sometimes rratchingher young ass floweringinto, AH

(rrha!ever she wearsalways looks good)

a think about,oh would i like to

hol,dtouchbitethat

"happyNOT

"hippv

to

to

there anymor eget you twenty

t i1e t irre

ioning

oy watchirEthe

see you Ei"

know y ou"

but im not& 15 wlll

i dont haveto spendin j ai1for disillusmadonnas

lnsteadi11 just enjher smile in

Idreams of youth& pretend not tonotice the tragedycreeping in

(JUIIE LAUGUS )

if you have no imaginatlon1n s orry

i have no words to describea 15 year olds laugh

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l{ o\,, she is sixteenher f ace

a serfletic ikon(rhe kind you findburried i-n past J-ivesa treasurewrapped softly in cotton)

the policeques t ionlng herabout the CreatCLEVEIAND lIEIGIITS }{ARIJUANA HOAXleft their marli& at a wes tern reserve poetry readingshe was afraid to talk to me

si-re looked so t iredi almost did not recognize her

the darkness of doubt@poor childto nai.vely look into the mj.ndsof the state executioners

i weep for you Ju11e& your million dreamingsisters

remember your dayin the hideous carress of the 1awJulieEhat is the day you startedto Learn of death

leavingthe watchfuL eyes of the stateyou carried awaythe filth of their minds

/remember the dayyou gave methe chj-ldrens poems &

drawing -that was

irportantT-

an anclenthebrew amu 1e t

untLtled poem prose

for blLl blssett because he neverrealIy sed who he was desplte allthe poems wlth hls name at theend llke a conet

because he probablydLdnt even know I saw hls drawlngsln my head ln neon plnk & green &blue when l was 17 or 18 and stonedon peyote in bay v1llage ohlo &no one was there to tell me whatthey meant or h or,, the drawingsreally got in ray head ox even norephenomenal : how the drar,zings gotfrom my head to bi1lrs head yearslater or if 1 went lnto years laterto see the drawlngs that werentborn yet in bil-1rs head

wouldnrt it really be funnyif we really were all the sameperson trying to be dlf f erent

thats what peyote told mebut t dldnt know it Et1 billgot busted & rhe RoYAL CANADIENMOUNTIES expres s ing themselvesbus ted thems elves inthe f orrn of bill bissetL & companyput tllemselves in j al1

nor{ when they dont sleep Eoo goodat nights do they understand ltsbecause part of them may be in jal1at nights when they dream & theirdream spirlts cant travel too farbecause part of them ls in jallcrying i mean part of their

Julie

a childs drawingon a scrap of paper

you wear it in yourmeno ry

a childs poemspontaneous - you recordit like a whlspered prayeron a disc of light& it flashes in yr mind asyou wall: in the darknes s

remember the drawlngsof chl ldren&

i11 remember who madeyou afraid to know me.

Idream spirlt thlnks freedom meansJust walklng the streets with ayoung girl at thelr si-de

l know freedom means we all goTOGETIIER to some other universefor a whll-e

like tonlght my cousin & illstenlng to some nusic at la cavecof feehouse my cousin tr e-Get-rman, them cats are togetherr Lnfact, they were so together theytook mos! of the audience with thenon a trip

me & b111, we took the same tripbut at different timesnow i suppose bill has to wal"tfor the mounties to take the trip....

sit.ting on a bench near TSOuare

L..through the branches ofthe thin trees of tenth streetthe blue sky waitsinith nle &

im waiting for god(on a white horse)to ride thru thebranches of thel-ower easE sidebefore returning to

cleveland

& sonethlngtel1s mehe lsnt conlng

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ln a levy of the levltesyet ln c leve Landi have palnted nyself

celtlc-blue& am feellngsonethlng lLke an ou t lawthe druids glve me soup& thlnk Lm a lama

its been close to 7 yearsive been looki-ng for god& the tral1s l,rearlng asthln as the trees on tenth street

l an a levy of the levltes& 1as t weeka fanatlc Jew in the hel.ghtgcalled rna a halfbreedbecause my mother was a chrlstlan

I am a levy of the levites& last week a rabbithought i was lclddingwhen 1told hinl raras lnterested in Judalsrrr

god t thlnk yr senseof humor is sad& perhaps you are alsofeeling s ome th lngllke an ou t 1aw

god i am wondering

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for how many yearshave the J ewsexl1ed youwhl1e they busled th ems e lveswith survlval

poem to mlchael solouon

lf you can flnd those rrholrhlsper 1n the darknessprayers of 1lgh tthaE drif t over americanshores 1n the night

te11 themlt seems as lf the dreamswere smug g J-ed lnand ln the guise ofrespectablLlty - we nolonger 11s t en to srnuggJ-ersof lsraeli dreams

te11 them, thelr words are rtrrongthelr hearts recordlng needs anev recordt', e cannot hear themthe static, the scratchesof centuries in travel havechanged the sound that oncernad e all the trlbesopen thelr eyestogether

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lf you can fwho whlsperln the nlghtte11 themthey do notthe c onf 11c t

lnd thosePrayers

unders tandof an amerlcan Jew

1f rhey recelve ml111ons of dollarsthey should not be fooled lntobelleving they are heard-that money 1s sent, 1lke tradltlonssome Jews tty to keep alivea cover for weaknesgsome form of subtle lnsurancerituals rather than turnlng lnwardto face the 1lght

they are trying to buY a dreamthey are afraid to seethey want to pay $2 at the box office& call tt f al"thwalk out if lts a bad movle

if you can find thosewho whlsper prayers of 1lghtte11 them, their holy cltleswill not stand 1f butlt wlthamerlcan money & the real Jewshere cannot walk lnto a temPlewlthout voni t lng

the holy men herewill- not use the tradltional wordswords are like enpty tin cans

the holy men ln thls countrydo not know 1f they are americansor 1f they are Jews

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they dont understandwhen you talk in thelr headsat nlght, 1f you are talklngto them, or to some rabblraklng off money from your1os t children

1f you flnd those whodream j.n the 1j-ghtte11 then1t 1s getting too cLose to deathfor us, and we do not know whowe are, or what they expectus to do....

l dont thlnk he knew who l wasperhaps even asklng 1f I was rea11y h1-s

rhat was 1948 - 1t is now rsos "iia t knowhe is watching a fooiball game on

televlslon1n another city - his greY halr

his sad eYesand he is probably stl1l wonderlng lf iam really his sonwhat father \,rants to admit that hisson rea11y is a r Poet r

l thlnk i lras ten when i asked thedlfference

between chrlstians & j ewsand hls reply wasIthe Jews believe jesus was a bastardrhe was wrong againthe jews bel-ieve in livlng' the chrlstiansbelieve ln jesus and have formed a death

cultaround his imagea cult dedlcated to sufferlng & love as a

means of llberationthe Jews know, that one becomes llberatedthru living not only lhru Programmed actsof masochism or blindness

it was sometime afterwardmy father and iwent to a tenple to hear thethe servlces

sat down in timeto hear that hauntinglanguage for just a moment

when someone told us we had ao stand inthe

back - we had chosen treserved seatsr

n err year

when i wassix years o1dwe dippedapple s lices& breadin honeytouched sma1l glassesof wine& sed rto lifer

I to l-if e t

that was the only timeuy father ever hit nehis eyes were very sad& he just sort of r"ralkedi:n owing he was wrongor that he couldnt reach

away

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aeats _that were pald f orh,e Iet t & it was thus 1 completedmy external. Jewleh educatlonMy fa ther was rlghthre never vlstted another temple& now 1 wonder how many Jews ared es t royed in this count ry each vearmy father hrtrh hlB ro"uiy ;;;; ,="tqylng to return hoeeonly to have the amslapped rn hls ,"".tt'""'

god of moneywhen we left lt was as ifhe, passed the nessage on to Ee' Enere are no Jews left in thls place r

and I spent yearstrying to fill in tharhungry space denled me

on holidays i did notknoi/- about 1 found myselfthinklng of Lhe o1d manand later trying to relremberr,rhat i dreamt when i wasa chlLd1 kep t d is cove rlng his quletnesswhen d.ld the first images, appear in rny head?'a place with sand wltere it Lrasyiir; tlre blue sky _ strange

. Erees, my fathers eyehad never turned fron 1srae1i_ dont even kirow if he knewwhat wa6 inside his owri head

once visiting l.ri1le1 l.rouse: ":: r-,Ld about keepingtradi Elons alive

liglrting candles

the secrets 1 learned from my father?how does one pass them on?

tLrls poem?tl-!a t I renember onceb e i-ng free to walkthrough all secret dcors

io walk with a free people

uhere dici i learn that?

iuy fathers terrib 1e eyesthe Lonelrnessflash phrases liheI genetlc rnemory r ?

fatherhear me

when i thlnk oi myi wcnder if he ean

this poen?for my f aLherr,rho will sonieday be reborn In lsrael

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& this poemfor my fatherthat i may orrce again be hLs son

& lhe name we carrywas ollce a name to be proud of

nou it is ner,- years 1968in a barbarlan countrythat has always felta1len to me

wir 1l e bltnd uen struggleto k"e ep tradiEions alivemy fatiler \"ra t che s f ootballgaues on television

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to pass t lme& i dream of hls sad eyesand i wonder about those blind mendo tLey ever rgonder who wrotethetr fucklng tradltions for chem?

r4,hat songs will be sungl lsrae1 for the young jewsbeaten or rnurdered in the southtrying to keep alivethe internal r,pirit

uhaL songs wiil be sungiri ls raelto reme ber the young jewswho tcok drugs int() eLernit),trying to r-ind the Spirlttney couldnt fiud in ameriea

what songs wi.ll be sungin lsrael to comueroratetire subtLe murderswhile rabbLs danced the hor8.ate dates & figs& looked the o i:her L,ayto keep iraditions alivemi father r^ratched f oottallon televis lonliis e-ve did not lose slghtof Lsrael for even a taoineilt-

and at leas t ollce a ye3.ri breah l.iread with hirnquietly in iny nlnd

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songs for dead chlldren

everyone PaYs thelr dueB& no ones gettln the Product& I wonder lf there are better schoolslike blrds who all die youngwhl1e ridlng on the windIts all a weekend dreamand seems as lfonl,y whlte sal1sin the mindthe dreamsomeone and Ldenled medo l fleed amphetanineto fa11 into my bralnunravelslike an oLd nelrsreelit op ensln the dayltghtthe movies overro111ng out of bedand sometlmes roL11ng a Jolnt& the things i melt ln beerremlnd me !,rhat i could have been& noruthe flre Ls spent ln Just survivlngrolling out of beal1cLose mY eYe each da-v

there is enuf no th lngin Ehe mtnd machineto play the Samepunchlng tLme clockson wlnter streets1ts all the sameas you dance

to the tune of the trrlsted mlnd& nowthe flre is spent ln Just survivlngto walk the deserted wind.my memory tremblesat the dangers of sllence& the fear of loveand the sand dunes of angermove me

B lngthe songs for dead chlldren& the dead dreamgof ch 1ld reukeepre-appearlng

as the hourapproachesin a bomb &stand there

of the J ackel

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r{1th a frozen heart& irhat did i ownas heavy as everyone curslngwhen I looked inwardfor the sun& nowthe fires spent in just I urv ivdng& lm toldto be realas i close the coffinon yeaterdays newspaper deaths& the paper dea thsare wrappedLn the garbageof fasclsmthe fal l lng s tarsare dead angelsdrlnking the wlneln boarded-up garages&1unrave 1llke a ro11 of nameswritten ln the skv& all poets

Its a natter of resentatlon

'iIf you I re palntingto make the wlngsotherr.rLse, people

b.

a cherub, you havethe rLght slze,w1I1 think lts a blrdJ.

Its only a matterthe revolutlon ln28 fLavors ?

to r e 11g 1onto r the otheror the streets

hLppies movlng

of presentlngpalattble terms

a proceas of gror,rthf ron lntellectualizatlonsto art from art

the other shoreor gettlng thelr passports

f rorn re 1.1g 1onshote r

dlrectly towlthout golng

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revo l-u t 1on a ry s tudenta movelnto the streets wlthout knowledgeof art & rtalk about culturalrevol-utLon r

any napalrned baby can tell youabout rthe cultural- revolutLonlturning flesh lnto dus tbones to f ertlllzers

ln the second actwe learn hor,r to use acldto ob t aln a plastlcnindthe more radlcal studentsare all r.lomen who Lront wearb ras - wrlte political manlfestoson tollet paper & tack them totrees or houses 1n the suburbs1lke han shan

minls te rs & hlppies move lntoslum prolects o\.rned by theircong regatlons or parents &I talk about Ehe corporate e1lte I

Picasso working for l^ra1t DisneyInc begins maklng an abstractanlmated movle on the llfe ofRonald Reagan.

llovles about Spiro T Agner^, haveall been censored but there area fev books held by collectors& a deck of Agnew Cards 1n 52dar ing poses -

Castle Films Inc Makes a 4 hrctr i l drens movle on revolutlonary

art in kindergarten rrlth a soundtrack by PLer"e Henry

its al-1 very slmpleyou begln bY c a 11lngsomethtng else ' llke

the revolutlonpolitlcs, artwelfareeducatlon, bus Lnes s ,

tt all depends on where You are at& then forget the P eoP 1eStart r^,1th a televlsLon spectaeularon polltica1 food starrlng melinlmercouri since Lts hlp to be greekthis year

write r the art of hog ca111ng t

a best sel-ler ln chlcago

pLctorial Postcards f romthe ghetto are r educatlonal r

the natlonal anthemmus t be changedto somethlng moreI suitab le r ie medlocresince it evokeslewd lma g es&

dls rup t s the peoDless truggle to\rard being,(medlocre)

being humble before godmeans to craP on the Peonlewho are not humble before You

ta1tr: about I the business r

of making 1'/eaPons ' Eear gas

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mace & other Drotective devlcesln terms of sensualltv

prophylactics are notrevolutlonary

gun control begins in the bathroom

the problem of illusions is easilysolved by calllng tt,r creatlng a market r

pe ac e f uI d ern on s t ra t lorlsdo not se11 newspapers

1t is alhrays a questlon offlnding a way to diethat is accep t ab 1e to thernass medlaso the people cant hear youwhen you lnslst tha t yourdeath was thelr fai lure to provldeyou \,rlthameanlngf u1 life

death 1n the streets is caIledra form of entertalnmentr

to dte in bedis an act of o1d agesome tlmes Lt haopenswhl1e watchlng televlslonand one must learn to\^'aLt for the commercialbefore havlng the b odvremoved

lenny bruce dled ln the bathroomduring target practlce

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Ihe wag nota member of thenatlonal shootlng as6ocl-atlon

& for thoee who sti1l believein those hours without needthe 1as t lonllness diedln the c leve land zoo

your televlslon is wat chlng you

AMERICAN GREETING CARD $$ucK.

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horne of the earliest Greek

Rcnalsaancc3p.cc-3hIp

philosophy

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Tomb Stone As A LonelY Charm

Part I

i have nothlng to saylf you turn awaythey nade a machineof / yx mind -once-contained lnfinite doors&

nrho let then be closedone by one

not - i -have nothlngto sayto youwont listen-turn away .

you have built nachinesto co loni z e yrs e1f& l-ater you vi11 loseyour Self-Turn awaythe wind of the universe1ie s behind those doors

'."-h o clos ed themone by onethe piecesof yr mind

a flash! & you r,rere toldit was ins ight - intui !ionsatori - an idea?&

its only one of the o1d doorswi th its xus ty hinges

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swlnglng open fora m omen t1n the unlverge

1et thls be wrlttenon the lnv1slb1e tombgtones

you turned awav=___-____L_t rom yr inflnlte eelfi have nothing to say to youwont listen to the sound ofthe invislble oceancontlnually questlonlnglts o\rn existence andlaughing at its own fat waves

( and the old tlbetan ladywho r^rrote the beautlful book1s probably !ratchlng color t.v,at this mlnute)

r^rhat can i te11 vouof re-ooening those doorst have nothing to sayyou turned awayto pretend"it 1s in-evitabLerr

the mia-use of machLnery

it is the Erees !''eeplngin the nlght wlnd

the mis-use of the nind

turn a\.7aJ,

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I have nothlng to sayln all Ehls darknesseveryone runs f romwords that carry llghifrom the closed doorsof the mlnd

i have nothlng to saywhy dont you just sit thereand die

a 11ttleeverydaY

waltlng for some nalveeh 1ld carrylng thecrtppled bird of yr loveto say the tings you areafrald to say & perhapsin a millenium or twoyou w111 begin tounders t and

that naive chlldI^raS yOUand you murdered hlmin the darknes s .

Par t Two

you had the deePestas a childr,rhen you cautlouslYup aE the sunand restlessly wrotethe r.rorldrs greatestI,rithln your head

eyes

looked

poem

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and your brothersdrink-1ng the clear vaterof the universerrro te their words withgo 1d on sacred b luelater tltey sat bacl.1n the soft fat of thelrglutted egos& talked lnto eternitvabouE the mysteries

after the poetic-orgasmyou rrere stl1l hauntedby some young gLrls face

a skull hovering ln theuntouchab 1e distanceyou sat wal t lngto neet thos ehoLlow eye s

you sat & watchedyour brothers 1e apinto imaginary sunsbLindfoldedtrying to grasp EITAT

you sat & laughed& wept & nothing happenedwhile your brothersburned out in apagms& returned vJi th imagesof the wi.nd

you were the unseeDnaster of wordswho lald the museon an altar of energy& then somethlng f rom

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a dream seemed toteLl you to move on

you looked for the musetss 1s ter Ln your s leep

even he r rno ther !

you found you could glvea thousand faces to a ladvln the dark

but she never really changed

give her 80,000 wordsto whlsper in the darrn& somehow she neverreal1y changed the soundvrithin

you called her dl fferentnames fo brlng her outbut she never moved

you hovered ln the darknessto pretendJust once more!its nhat you wanEed

touch her with a klss ofenergy and vou knowits -jusL a ga e you t regrowl.ng tired ofyou drifted awar' lookingfrlglrtened that somedayyourd f ind 1t was ttreallyonly done with mlrrors &

1i gh t rl

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you drlfted away looklngthrough time as if 1t wereonly a stalned glass !rlndotr,growlng dlm ln the evenlng

tlne after tlneyou never s ali,the doorway 1n yr foreheadI,ra s cluttered wlth wordswritten & unwritten- though t form6-

there rnras oncea t lme when someonesettled in your headand asked f or"a ,oo-i6Ts rest"

& you wondered if THATwas what it rnras a1l about

you sat sti11with your deep eyesafraid to look at the sunyou watched yourselfdying - gror,r o1d

brrt the grea tes t mystervto haunt you beyond deathwas knowlng

1n all the yearsyou had been s eenon l-y once

perhap s that wasthe miracLe you hadbeen walting f or

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Someone rrho heardthe unwrLtten P oems

& then sonethlng f roma dteam seemed to tellyou to tlove on

& you grew old trylflgto unders tand motlon

Part Three

if 1'ou r.rant a revolutionreturn to vour chll dhoodand klck out the botton

dont mistake changingheadlines for changes

if you want freedomdont mistake clrclesfor revolutions

think in terms of livingand ltn or.ryou are dying& wonder why

if you want a revolutlonlearn to grow in sDiralsalvays belng able to returnto your childhoodand kick out the bottom

Thls is what ive beentrylng to sav - lf voua t tack the structur€-

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the aysten - the establlBhnentyou attack youreelfKNOW THIS !& attack lf you nustchallenge youraelf externally

but 1f you rrant a revolutLonreturn to your chlldhood& klck out the bottortr

be ab 1e to changeyr orrn lnternal chemistrv

walk down the street& fLash 11ghts 1n yr headat chlldren

thls ls not a gameyour ch1ldhood1s the foundattonof the system

walk down the streetflash lights ln yr headat chlldrerr but be war.,of anvone o1d enough to klll

learn how to dlsappear

before they can find vou

(that 1s, if lrou want tostay allve)

lf you vrant a revolutlondo Lt "together'lbut dont get traDped inwords or s.!rs tems

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People are PeoP leno matter what p o 11t 1cscolor or words they use& they all have childrenburled in thelr head

1f you erant a revolutlongro!, a new mtnd& do lt quletlyif you can

return to your chLldhoodand klck out the bottomthen become a b el.ngnot dependent oo f,rordsfor seeing

whenever you 8et boredchange headlinescolors polit lcs wordschange women

but if you really wanta revolutlonlearn how te changeyour lnternal chemlstrYthen go beyond that

walk dovn the streets& flash liBht atyourself

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BLIND MYTH dolng a death danceON GROUND Z ERO( for IIiL1ie)

we 1ls ten in the early dar,rnwaltlng for the sun to rlse& there lssomething 1n the summer alrand summer months away

it is calxnllke that ominous calm bebefore the tornado rlpsthe meaning of your 1lfeto pleces

then suddenly an exp 1o s i. onfrom behlnd as the californiamyth appears with jugs ofred mountain wine and m1les ofroad behind hlm

blind d runkon hls lllusionz app ing his childtsh imagesof love

we asked hlmto identlfy h ims e1f

but he was singlng to the voidhe couldnt seehe brought so much of thecoast with him he coul-dnt seethe city he was in

35

vlslted all the poetsherd heard about.

(betveen drlnks )he talked so much he eouldnthear them aa they really were

hls pockets contalned so manypre-conceptlons about wher eIt real1y waswe dldnl have time to find out1f he rea1ly knew the hlddenpaths thru the void

from ground zeroto the other shore

california, dont send usyour myths werve got a differentg ame

we asked himto identify hlrnself

he rapped wlth my vrife 1n thekltchen instead & wetve got notlme to hassle with nythicalcockmen, we need munitions expertsto dynanite the mlndhe came herelike a blind nantrying to fuck the rainbowso drunk on his own mythhe could only see oursilence & our questionsag a f orrn of paranola

should we tel1 you whor,re are when we know youcannot see us?

36

he came hereJust 1lke a tourlst1s this the bestcallfornla has to offet?

i had to tell himwe dldnt needhis undeveloped lovelmag eswhat l wanted to saylt was not enough& 1f he could have calmedhls mind for a ferd momentEwe could have shown h1mso much mor e

like star maps for thenlnd & the very reallonellness of r ea 11ty

and thenthe caln before the stormstlll exlsted ln the backgroundwe could have used hls helpto change the summer stormsbut he was Just too fu11of Love energyto help anotherperson

callfornia, dont s endyour myths to us

your dream mecca1s a rvhorehousepainted wlth phoneypsychedellc advertlaements

37

we heve a dlfferent gamest111 undeflned, we sPendour mornlngs wandering thesoft hLl1s of ohlolooklng for thehldden wordsthat grolt herewlthout the helP ofyour ar t lf 1c 1allnner sunJ"lght.

1et tre to c l eve lend

cLeveLand l gave youmost of my ene r gypleces of ny flesh & bone& you laughedclanklng out tanks by cadillacmaklng nlssile partsto bonb ch l L dren1n v1e tnamlnveB tlngyour moneyio buy ma ch lne- g unsto protect your latln-amerlcanLnvestlmentsto get those extra luxurleson your kltchen tables &

buy plastlc wartoys for yourchlldren

to keep amerlca f ree?

38

& your ch 11d r engrowlng lnto eternally lnnocentnurderers & buslnessmen vrLth pot-be11i.esdylng as you dled1n dlsnal 6tupld laughterdying as you are dyingto maintaln a eultureof uniform we akne s s& educatlng your clrLldrento Not readNeruda, or Lorca, or Appollnalreor Cinsberg, or Kandel, or Sanders

cleveland i gave youmost of my words & ny tlmeand you laughedtold me to get a job-1ike washlng dishes ?

for $40, a week?-because my hlghschool dlplomawasnrt liorth a good shitand the sun never rosein this enp ty tor,'nand the davlight hreakinqrainbows on the wet orientalmanhole coversvlasnrt \o,orth tlme or monevEo rrrlte aboutexcept on Sundaysr.rhen you coul.dni t get a drJ,nk& wlpe-out the was ted davsp11ed up llke dead f lower:s

cleveland i gave ]'oua klnd of love that yorr\^,i 11, not understandfor the centurles vou collectmuseums fu11 of dead things-

39

thlngs !,rl th thetr lnner-meanlngssubtly coveredto protect your chlldren ?

to keep america free ?

(perhaps ) free from thought:& wlth your lnsLstenceupon re all tyyou never notlcedthat s,t e are allonly kept allve by dreans& eventhe small dreams of clevelandare slowly murdered by thenarrow reallty that surrounds& devours them

A City Of Treescut down by reality

tel1 ne agalnreality is money

Tell Me AgaLnand I will slice openyour b lood-s t alned realityand S CREAMthat l and my brothersknor,r 1,000 doors ln and out.of your reallty

teLl me agalnthat reali tv 1s moneyand i11 scream

lve Laid some of your cltles bestin lonelv hours aod i can stl11

40

ternernber plaees ln uy mlnd wherethe atr r{as so clean i didnt haveto carry the fear away & burv ltwhen no one was looklng

cleveland - there are par:ts of meyou w 111 not unders tandfor centurles

te11 me about your realityand 111 te11 youI do not belleve in deathand i spend mv days inamazement - wondering at vourcallousness & your r.r1de-onenhypocrlsy -cleveland, J. g avethe poems ttrat nohTrote about youand you gave ne}IOTI{ING

youone eve r

not that iever wanted much

a place to wrl tesome pxlnt ing nater j.alsso 1 could take my time& \^,rlte beautlful poems& s tudybut you l aughe d

& wtren i got sLck& couldnr t afford a doctoryou looked the other rvay

& when I f inalI-y savedenough money to go

41

the doctors oever seemedto know what was wrongthe doctors spend - oh -

elght years 1n collegeand yet I was still Justa guLnea plg to thembutwhen I rrro te poensyou told neI couLdnt experlment r,r1th rrordshad to understand the rulesof the game-- get credentlals

I watched my teeth rot& l augh ed

what could your schools teach me?how to be a bad poet? afterpaylng out $5,000. . .or perhapsafter a scholarshl-p btalnwashlngl cou1d sLt on my ass& write to an audlencet helped to murderr.rlth dead poemseafe poems

Te1l rne about your Realityand 1l-1 te11 you clevelandYou Dont KnowI'lhere Its At

Lnvesting your chlldren inapathy & lmprlsoning everyoneyou thlnk ls a leader -there are rules to the gameyou havent le arne d

42 43

1000 ways to destroy themonopoly you thlnk you haveon llmlted thought processes

."11.T9 about your reallryafld l1l tel"l youThere Is No Securltyln the unlverse

iJho In The He11Do You Thlnk you Are?attempting to control god?to stop notlon:

cleveLand if you thinkyou can corner a plece of tlme_move to ano!her gaJ.axyand keep pretenclingbut even therelre r 11 move over youln a few nillLo! re-entrlescLeveLand 1 gave youpoens that no one el-se had tl"meto qrrl te& you arres ted me

AND I DONT EVEN CARE

in the days unbornyou wl11 flnd mv brothersARUED r,rtth words you haventeven dreamed of& 1f you inslst on arrestlngthem?There Are Other llaysyou havent even dreamed of.

Clevelandyou wi 11 rnoveor be p Iou,ed over-eaten by vul tures11ke a corpsedigested& s low 1ychange

Coda

O.1ce at Edqewater FarkI sa t on the break!,ra 11& unbuttoned a younq girlsblouse-her bra was r+hite likesn crnr of the hima l aya s& ber mouth was fr:ll of

the first time i ba11edu,as on Memoria I Day

it was something else

the

f l ornrer s

oh

11

AFTERWARDS

These poems vrere selected on a prlvar_ebasis, trithout exhaustlnq the best oflevy's Doetry or aspirino to be repre-sentative. i^re trierl to bring togethersome o1d stlands of our life when levyspoke 1n a sircruLarly personal- voi,ceamong politi.eal people. The choices re-flect our initial response when we reaChis ooerns and oublished many of then ihConncctions in 1967 and .68: Surrcun.le<lby people hardened tc biq cities whooverflowed the villagre-left of l.ladj.son,\de hoped the clarity of levyr s senses inCleveland would brinq our f;ienCs to feeland toueh their daity lj.ves. Not rnuchehanqed but vre continued to read thepoems and saw therein a friend.

But we also reread them and inchedaway fron the man who put people in myth-ieal cubbyholes. Guru, faiher, cunt,clevelanrt, muse, them. .,fha t had seernedto be the voice of one rnan apoeared frao-I"ented a-ono varied voices. Soh, uc-rooted Jew, political conscience, wcrkerof words, Tantric Buddhlst, male anirral.Each poem was suddenly eonstrained andouzzllnc; the r"rord s no lonqer offered usa sense of release. Fiis plea for a CaL_fornla visitor to abanrl oF his blincling

15

r

mlzths 6at ltt the back of our mindsr. . .we tve got no

t lne to hassle vrith mythlcalcockmen, we need munitions expertsto dynamite the mind. . .

Other poems were seLected because theyexplal,ned to us levyrs passage intohLstory.

We rve ccine through this stiLl \^rant-lng more people to read levy. Itdoesn. t read as slmply his story. Atthe edges we.ve placed two poems toCleveland, wrltten at either end of alonq human passage. The varied volcesare sounds of our own recent past, com-plete wLth dead end streets. Everyonen ol^r talks a better line than levy; tothat extent \^re ean all stand outsidethe poems. But here are our problemsBtated for everyone to turn to. Per-haps ttey can Lead us out, as they wereunable to lead the poet on.

words, not beinq her businessshe doesntt reallze how muchdeath he carries wlth hi.m...

d.a. levy said that.--ed l tors

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