Alternative Encyclopedia

Poetry by Chris Cowan

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

fractals in the wind

windswept tendrils grasping for handholds

little twigs off of the mast pole

fastening onto space in the world,

the next threshold, which can close up

flushing to unmitered air, for now

sIt there, sway there, strengthen, manifold,

branch off, grow, spilt, hold-

somewhere between snap and stability

Is the enough, or, now that you got it,

and you fucked the cut up

it's not yours anymore, its lumber-

unburdened wood is no more than

measurements, fast tactful beviling

hemoraging energy for the amenity of a

tree finding its own purchase,

at least in our work ethic-

on the surface it seems pedantic,

wood and it's frantic search for manic perch

splintering like the off cut ends if cut ends

also are worth something

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

exhale at midnight

the next inhale feels more crisp

each day's influence

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Delphi

we found ourself at oracle hill

you knew something but didn't tell

i said there's something you didn't know

you said surprise me

I searched all day among the trees

found two olives, biggest in the valley

said you have one, I have one,

you said I should try first

I did, said these olives are like us

alive and ripe and beautiful

meant to be experienced together

I said join me, have a bite,

you said no

I'm getting ahead of myself,

you know what the future holds for us,

I'm just chomping at the pit

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Theaters

I've had so many experiences of people in the audience of movies whispering, and always it's something they think is really clever but is super obvious, or something that doesn't need to be said.

Never have I heard a whisper of someone telling someone else something actually clever. I never gained any insight, or viewed the movie any better with the very audible try-to-be ninja whisper one person gives another.

Maybe if the whispers started to be interesting, maybe if I went into a theater where someone says something to the other that actually made me change my entire opinion of the film, maybe that's when whispers start to be ok.

But that's never happened, and it never will. It's always "Oh shit, she gonna die!" and then she doesn't

She don't. She don't die. Shut up

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Apartment

a quarter over midnight musings

singing softly, sweetly, my own

bubbles crackle in the fizzy

baby darkness, ways to go-

little loud and subtle people

shifting windows open, close

bitty movement in the moonlight

there, I hear it, there it goes-

baby darling, simple echoes

other's memories now mine;

with the stories all around me

all I must is think up are rhymes

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Disoriented

you travel downspine

I bend

vertabrae crack

upend me, no

bow, you show me

every single way

to descend-

you're right,

and when you're right,

you're right,

your right

is right,

I'm wrong-

not so strong

lefthanded;

but for you

I try

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Draft

have you seen ash fall

flakes graceful as pirouttes

like butterfly death

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Addictions

I loved you like a bird at night

burrowed in and nestled tight,

like a dog let out to howl

found a bone and licked it white,

I loved you like a winter hearth

turned tepid toes to bright,

like a slug within a garden

found a shell that fit just right,

I loved you like a sickness

left me tongue-tied with your bite-

only left you cause I had to

but it took all of my might

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Potential

they didn't tell you

but you showed you are open

to every surprise

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Melting

If I love you

you bounce like toes on coals,

uneasy

like pebbles rolling behind

steps of mountaineers-

If you love me,

don't put your hand through

first,

less youll grasp

shards and bleed out:

my love is insular,

there's no easy way in-

if we love each other

we will will pause,

you'll come inside, and

here, nothing burns or slips,

nothing breaks or slits,

love is thick

we'll find our time in it-

if we love eachother

we'll mix

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Meditation

welcome, unback your pack

unstrap your portable past

now listen here, years are

laying on the ground, not on you

the truth is, who are you

just a mix of it, am I right?

you, primordial soup

stewed, stirred

side of life, spiced

the blend of day-

you smell like laundry,

the good kind,

the new kind

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Hibernation

Shedding like summer my supple wings

shuffling ceaselessly forward, I barrel in,

Clenched teeth, defense against the winter winds

wherein I faltered, Im resilient,

arms tense, I sense an end to all of this,

all of this sun covered brilliance,

covering color, so tis the season

i camoflauge just to fit in-

I burrow in deep to the snowdrift

Crinkle my toes, keep the warmth in

Dreaming of green and the beaches,

in time I'll have summer to reach, and

though now I have snow and the sleet

I believe in the gold and the heat

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Orbit

call me Haley's comet

have the momentum

to go on to the next thing

to go from here to infinity,

keep getting drawn back

by the same old things

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

dimples like an etching

like an artist shading

found perfection, let it be and

there you are, anomaly-

smile to refloat a fleet,

heart of steel, sink your teeth in,

never dent, so fucking resilient

and though you bend, you do not break,

like palm, like gentle graspings of hands

clasping but not lending all yourself,

you say cards are evenly dealt,

that we can exchange what we held

and get the same odds,

and even then I felt

I gained something, you scoff it off,

say all is fair in love and your

cadence made me believe it

but you weren't correct

I started with nothing

but you refused to believe

you had the jackpot,

in the end

gave me half the cards

when you would won,

and that is your

only sin,

and that is my

biggest win

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Cradled

hold me soft like wind holds nectar

turn me in breathless air, like a breeze

like a self stirred love

like a personal awakening

untouched by your fingertips

untraced by the ridges of your prints

yet I know it's you who moves me

you unmoving, but gleaming

shimmering but stationary,

you, an illusion that somehow,

somewhere downspine,

you shiver me

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Elongation

time turns like shadows in summer,

soundless, glorified bumpers

measuring distance:

subtracting here and now

by memory-

you can't hear trees growing

you just see the difference,

listen,

ebb and flow,

emotions

wrinkle eyes,

solidify our preferences:

either we smile or don't and

it lines faces, we become

like trees

growing against wind-

people

in their minds, they

connect dots, so freckles

they don't understand,

like humankind is born

one way

then grows another-

in time,

we grow like shadows

orbiting a tree, so before sunset

you won't even recognize us

[evenfurtherthanfurther]

Amour

long live the butterflies

gentle powder on ceaseless wings

coat my song like it, too, is weightless

and can carry

a being

like me