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LEONARD BRINK is editor and publisher of Instress Publications. His chapbooks are Ascended Distance (Instress 1998) and Secrets of the Universe (hophophop 1999). He lives in Northern California. THE SEAM BETWEEN THE ROCKS AND THEIR ACTUAL NUMBER Two worlds submitted to a test of symmetry collide Words drown out what they stood for Captions capsize, Signs more substantial than what they advertised What is actual is not isolated from what isn't Leaky boats of emotions Questions and absences Ideas whispered into being Whispers become wind A wreck beats the ship to shore Climbing tides to leave debris the shape of headlands in the sand. The hard fragrance of salt drips apart from the wood the boat forgets. The waves of its song dissipate as shafts split into sunbeams sweeping the beach where the clams have left their harmonicas. OUT FROM THE COLUMNS AND INTO THE GUTTER One morning, lying in the bed of human experience A dialog is set up to clarify the need for explanation. The book you are in is its own cradle of explanation Sweeping logically beneath the shape of branches A sign is constructed by tracing the difference Between the assumption of privilege And the privileged assumption In the end truth kills itself and the lie Wakes up in its bed to join the world Which comes home later than usual To a posthumous reply pinned to its pillow TWO BIRDS BEING CAUGHT WITHIN THE SAME STONE They are not points of light But beams that support the planes That give the world surfaces we can see Light does not reach the dead end of the tunnel If nature is beautiful and orderly this proves it is in the imagination No face beneath the veil We stand on what is apparent or on what must remain a mystery, also apparent We walk on hollow ground |