by Mark Lamoureux (22pp. Saddle-Stitched B&W illus.)
SOLD OUT!
The source text for these poems was stolen from Harold Brainerd Hersey’s book, Night, originally published in 1923. The poems in this volume were accompanied by illustrations in the period style (art nouveau) by Elliott Dold. I have stolen some of these, also, unaltered.
In addition to Night, Hersey also published a book of Cowboy verse, a critical analysis of pulp novels and Helpful Hints on War Risk Insurance, Etc., among others. Dold did illustrations for numerous books and pulp magazines.
I became fascinated by the obsessive vocabulary and thinly veiled sadomasochism of Hersey’s somewhat tawdry original and decided to embark upon a project of “literary conservation.” The poems here include every word and mark of punctuation found in the Hersey originals of the same name; the words themselves have been rearranged by my whim, and in accordance with subjects that differ from the originals. I see this as a way of granting the original texts renewed vigor, allowing them to continue to exist into the future. Also, in keeping with one of the favorite subjects of the original author, the process of creating these was a kind of bondage game; one must compose within the tight fetters of the original works and their own obsessions and compulsions.
by Mark Lamoureux
clasped is cool and currents
The cup
The cup
of sweet steam, the stars
are She, arched;
are She, arched;
drunken among the dead
Will fill darkness dropping
Will fill darkness dropping
fragrant for fingers
that mad cup again
that mad cup again
has sunken Down in
Her strangely wet lips;
Her strangely wet lips;
the monotonous moonlight
in her Most molten body
in her Most molten body
tasted it through Her
The trees They thirst!
The trees They thirst!
he rests under her
Weaving Through the ages;
Weaving Through the ages;
Listen to still layers
like bolts out of rock:
like bolts out of rock:
………
All
one in
the glisten,
one in
the glisten,
idolatrous
