Glenn Bach
from: Atlas Peripatetic
12
Actual or imagined.
There, the ubiquitous plastic round tables,
the bendy chairs a tender approximation
of café
(at least
they’re green).
At a certain moment, common
falsehoods.
How many afternoons and evenings
for however many years sitting there
watching that tiny corridor of the world.
Favor of
enactment,
a decade of everyday
conversations.
Now I note them for the sounds they make,
their thin legs scraped against the
sidewalk,
a set of circumstances for others to
use,
modes of improvisation,
arenas in which to act.
Aloha
means goodbye.
40
triggers
shrill cadence of bleats
siren
calls
first
1897
every
20 seconds
60
Slight
wind
falling
leaf
ficus berry
faint
lilt
earthquakes
trip
sensors in the door
microphone
interior
pressure
mercury
tilt/shock
signals
crossover unit
closes
switches and
activates
headlights
horn
pierce
rooftops.
They never.
will
until
first
until the end of the world
drained
Blaring! On wheels!
An extensive library of data,
the experience of thousands!
77
This is important.
Quieter than metal,
the plastic grocery bag of 1977
type 2 HDPE
the
the competition for traditional brown paper,
exclude—dark in color, made into lumber,
clean and dry thoroughly
these
baggies on a roll,
plastic produce bags on a roll,
2 and 4 yes,
7 no,
no greater than,
no less,
no length or width,
no longer or shorter,
free of charge
this
grocery
drug
convenience
department
specialty
discount
restaurant
t-shirt sacks,
merchandise bags,
grocery bags,
checkout bags,
non-sealable
sacks and bags
with handles or drawstrings,
without zippers or integral extruded closures,
with or without gussets,
with
or without printing,
although the bags are free—
high density polyethylene
(propane, butane),
light, sturdy,
easy to carry,
built-in handles,
cheaper than paper,
compacted into less space,
different resins
—check for the small holes,
the triple knot,
the environmental cost,
the coiled receipt,
the last slice of bread—
it goes without saying that these
are the good days, that which does not
need to be said:
since they do not break down,
the answer is not clear.
127
A muscle car and the engine roar,
exhaust, rims, and spoilers,
special intakes for the engines,
supercharged throaty sound of the road,
the most famous one the 409,
fostering:
the full-throttle youthsong of
roar and thunder,
the smell of heat rising,
the pavement of
the hottest cars ever made,
the straight always,
the roaring pipes of lake,
the bottom out curves after air,
the satisfying nature,
the evident beauty of:
red
apple
and bright
signal flare,
orange
grabber,
yellow
bright, light, and light,
beige
pebble and mist,
brown
tan and prairie,
gold
bright and morning,
bronze
copper,
copper
bronze,
green
bright and dark,
dark
moss and ivy,
lime
new,
turquoise
young and frost,
aqua
dark
bright
blue
dark and diamond winter,
white
white,
gray
light,
silver
frost and smoke,
black
raven.
236
this new observatory
a trip through early yards of morning
of heavy air
of demolition and salvage
haul water
missing scene
1/64
farm supply
rugged . . . flatbed trucks
some of the bolts
ocean walls must be flat / smooth
with
each passing day of lathe
and plaster
prices
corners rust-red
plywood walls
wrecker boom
white wall
fountains
greenhouses
rollback
longratchet
helpwonder
placelift
slotsouth
singpulse
a rope tied tightly
the understanding of open vs. closed