THANK YOU BLACK SPARROW

Hi Bea,

I have wonderful news and a gift for you.
I found that poem Greg crumpled up into a ball
and I saved. Its a gem. Please post it with my
compliments. Since he gave it to me, well.. he
crumpled it up and threw it on the floor and
I asked him if I could have it and he said yes,
I guess I can post it too. I am trying to
represent it exactly as he typed it.

–Chris Arcus

late December 2009

(editorial note: “Black Sparrow” refers to the Black Sparrow Press)

by Greg Hall, copyright 2010

)”We are  unable to publish this manuscript
for reasons that are beyond
the scope of this letter.”(

Some turn to drink
For they value clarity
Some never drink
For they value disorientation
It’s the Lulu Nation
Jonesing for a vibration
Not to be found
on a map
“CHOATA”
“AH HA HA HAAAAH”"
You got nothing
&more of te same on tap
As Sartre said
“Poets decide to lose
In order
To win_”
Kabir says “do
The simple purification-
If the beautiful
Woman says CUT YOUR HEAD OFF
You’ll be searching ON LINE
FOr a good deal
On a circular SAW”
My take IS THIS-
“If somebody tells me
To kiss their ASS
I say “do you
Really mean IT?”
My reasons
For telling you
Anything
More
Are
Beyond
The
Scope
Of
This
Poem…
—————–
Note: Greg Hall poem, circa 2007?

TO LIVE AND DIE ON EARTH

by Greg Hall
copyright 2008

Hamburgers sizzling
On an open grille
“and Chuck Berry
Is so glad to be”
“back in the USA”
How
Ever
“Mikes
“do
“not
“make
“the
“man
And
ALL
“slides”
“away”
“before”
Your
Personal
And actual
Feet
“Despite your”
“education”
And all that followed it
And “all”
Preceding “it”
)?
Your
Nates
Sizzling
On a grille
)a big eraser removing all exits
)”Lenny Bruce and Robert Crumb and Sartre
)”gone gone so GONE”
And
“you”
Are on
“your”
“own”
)”ART”
)”IS
)”smegma”
“THIS”
“IS”
)the
)beginning

FAST EXPRESSION

by Greg Hall
copyright 2008

JB utters the seven
syllables of “BLUES”
in less time than anybody WHO
was ever BORN
“people”
“let me”
“tell you”
“the news”
)the “cold”
“sweat”
of 3 A.M.
“Got nothing”
“ON ME”
but people
let me
tell YOU
the “old” “guy”
“THING”
“is”
“UNDER”
“RATED”
You HANGAROUND
WIT ME
A BIT
“You”
“WILL”
“GET”
“SOME”
“BLUES” said
with seven syllables
SO QUICK
“You don’t know”
“whether to run”
“shit”
or
“go”
“blind”
Love
You
BABY

SPEAK THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED

by Greg Hall

copyright 2008

Morning arrived without an invitation
It was just that evening was so beautiful
The sunrise started following it around
I don’t know where your luminous paleness ends
And the black heart of midnight begins
The borders are opaque
Even in the black some light gets in
The blood finds its way
Just like a new-born river
Goes where it must to continue to flow
Otherwise it must become a lake
Breathing in motionless splendor
Guard of light and a passive victim of the moon
But we
Are
about
Rivers
Inexplicably encountering each other
Crowded with rubies among the white stones
We broke all the laws
Standing in the kitchen
Under very bright lights the curve of your back
Your breasts high in a plum tree
And the nipples fiery and tender
Eclipsing the rare gems the night had buried
Inside my body and my dreams
I woke up and knew your milk arrayed
Upon a landscape of white gold
Drowned in an air that could only be the daughter of the ocean
And we love each other
The way the night follows the morning
Enthralled and justified
Because the black stone from the endless vastness of night
Must warm and glow and be consumed in fire to reach the earth
And the pure air surrounding us while we embrace
Contains the light and heat of the meteor fallen
Sacrifice from the heart of night
That we might fly
In our quick night
And rest in an exhausted paradise
Mementos of this impossible journey
Strung along your belly
Like dew
From
heaven
Forever.

ODE TO WOLFMAN GREGGIE

by Greg Hall
copyright 2008

When I was born my father wore a lab coat
The first words audible were
“it’s alive, it’s al-l-l-l-ive … “
Igor stood by and told the old man
“I’m glad your first child is a masculine child”
I ran with the wolves until I was seventeen
The villagers came with torches and burned the castle
But it was empty
It had always been empty
When the moon got full
My face broke out in fur
My teeth felt sharp and I had tons of energy
I became obsessed with Hank Williams
I was ready for love
I was drowning in love
And had no voice
No way to speak to another
Of the vast seas which were navigating me
I hid inside the rain
I hid inside the sunlight
I could only be seen under starlight
Seen
But
Not
Heard
I was the howling child
Muted by history
This went on for a long time
But one day this blonde girl
Looking to get out of the rain
Crawled under a boat propped up on the beach
And she taught me to write
My name in the sand
And then taught me to speak
One letter at a time
And then to weave the letters into a word
The words into sentences
And then
To Sing
She kissed me and bade me farewell
Now after this I wove a shirt made up completely of words
In my shirt I can go anywhere and pass for human
When I meet people I say “Spanish Lace”
or “Flamenco Oranges Impersonate My Tears”
Its only in the middle of three A.M.
I wake up trembling and remember my life
As the Monster’s Son
Though still after writing a poem
I must admit
My teeth
Feel
Sharper

REALLY OPEN MIKE

by Greg Hall
copyright 2008

“WHO”
May
Speak
)?
“Those who make
Loneliness
A darling lover,
Solitude a darling
Sin”…
Bring yr dreams
Yr aspirations, yr crimes,
Yr open throats,
“KEEP SINGING”
as yr howls and “mozartian ululations”
Are not “FATAL” to me…
Seek not in me
The source of yr pregnancy,
“I” “LEAVE”
“NO”
“TRACKS”
But the
Loneliness problem
You mention
“Compels”
“Me”
To “advise”
“You”
“MAKE
LONELINESS
A LOVER
AND SOLITUDE
A DARLING
SIN”

How Your Paleness Explodes Inside A Very Silent Joy

by Greg Hall, copyright 2008

So many hearts broken
All along the watchtowers
Inside every step
Along the way
So many mouths
Never really
Been kissed
So multitudinous
The weary virgins
Feet in the air
And a loneliness
Howling
An untouched coyote
Under a pristine
New moon
That immaculate
Sliver
Tuned
To the curve
That never found
Your
Secret
Throatskin
And
Other
Lost
Magicks
As in
So
Many
Hearts
Broken
Because
They
Never
Got
To
Beat
So many
Hearts
Broken
All
Along
The
Watchtower
So many
Mouths
Never really
Been
Kissed