at the clear spot.

she says, everything is peripheral. vision a neon corona, iris beach glass foveal blue, weathered husk of a vanishing planet. tabletop syzygy, nonverbal cues, the parabola of an eyebrow pencil, a line she writes on a concrete wall as comets describing a fingerprint's whorl. her hand for a moment, a smear of chalk, the calcified vector of latent desire, pavonian scurf or a lipstick trace, pheromones and the bones of the dead. air trapped between twin blankets of blonde, shards of subliminal conversation, hair strands of optical fiber glass, a light wave's refraction through windowpane, motionless or emotionless, the static charge of a halo's betrayal. a line she is fed or is feeding out, black ribbon round a translucent throat, words on a page and between the lines, parasite on the tip of her tongue, a secular host, crystallizations of meaning and loss, the postage stamp on a scarlet letter. audible punctuation marks, a period as seed of redoubt, beads on a wire, an original score, impetus to the feeling of notches, grasping at straws or stray straw men, how they hold their sticks at the base, she says. drums and wires, needles and knives, the rush of her pulse through the blouse of her skin, hands in a pocket, the music of spheres, a drink of blue light, two kinds of darkness, frozen fire, poison and cure. a turning of periodic tables, settling into one's element, stealing a glance, the testing of mettle, the quenching of thirst, a forging of names, iron man or ironic maiden, a rusty nail and a ferrous wheel, anemia or anomie, surprise as the rarest form of earth. learning to fly not leaning to file, past the past, a continuous present, a murmur of cars, she's so beautiful now, she doesn't wear her shoes, a step through the doors while catching her breath, wind and white noise, the wetness of teeth, stars as fish, a sign in the heavens. like a plastic disposable razor, she says, the ideal man, an irony lost, an unfounded claim, the snap of a wishbone or stake in the heart, silver dollars and rosewater scents, the muscle's dilation, a world freed of option, clusters and chains, to know not to know, laughter in the machinery. the lack of outside, a möebius strip tease, the nays and the eyes the smoke gets in, iris beach glass foveal blue, a tattooed tear not a tattooed ear, tintoretto tintinnabulation, rioting in the prison of language, the pull inside, a span of a tension, the snapping of jaws and the sapping of necks, two more phrases, one more phase, sentiments from the dark side of the moon. the problem of someone else's pain, a crack in the window, secret secretions, honey soit qui mal y pense, a sticky wicket, the shade of freud, pockets and balls, the felt and the scene, the rhizome of rumour, a miscued shot, a line of flight or a line of light, a roll on the floor not a roll in the hay, a straw in a mouth, two in the bush. a queen bee, some wasps, and someone's aunt, sharks, a mole, and a weasel or two, hound dogs, a bitch, some chicks, and a pig, vultures and worms, cats and a kitten, an ass, and a probable egg-sucking ferret. you see more of what isn't there, she says, pupils horizons without event, two kinds of darkness visible, the need to repeat, what the document meant, a thin wet film, testimony in camera, the role of oral lore in morale, citizen model citizen, fickle freckles and auburn hair, a pair of brown eyes, a partner in crime, a kick in the side, few more rounds than remain in the chamber, the glass slipper lost at the magic 8-ball. racking them up, shooting them down, a pointed stare from a small-town girl, the tenuousness of a thick metal coin, recto and verso, distance of sirens, a fetal attraction, renditions of bones, wither or weather, a fading cartouche, reflections drifting off to sleep, sidestep over the nephroid rainbow, leaves still wet in the mouldering books, the bleeding of ink, the cards facing down, lights on the clouds in endless recycle, distant roar of the gardiner's cars. the sad cafÈ, on a foggy night, down by the water, the blue divide, a blue moon for elvis, the midnight sun, a mojo pin, a toy never played with, shining roads, gentlemen, wish you were here, heart of gold, dead souls, protection, possession, a gypsy, five years, a black balloon. painted stones buried underground, proximity of a sneaky disease, the alien frame of a spider's cathedral, blue circles, white lines, the roar of the crow, a baker's man, sting or be stung, the cigarette's fire, oral fixation, optic allusion, riding the rail, a streetcar named lust, the pearl of great price, a persian flaw, the cosine of sin, a long way down, overhead rumble of planets and planes, a long-stemmed rose that's been dipped in tar. the lore of a liar, a lyre in the lair, background broadcast of neurotransmitters, repeat of test patterns, lobbied surveillance, poached au pairs, a punch in the head, the braille of a bruise, a broken nose, kin and skin, an ex-wife or two, a perfect resemblance, a brilliant disguise, baudelaire or bottled air, letters in french, a subtle sublet, denizen of an ivory tower, a foolproof plan, a shanghaied shrine, the hanging gardens of bramalea. a knave, a lady, an ace in the hole, bookmarking the deck, a few cards short, five scarred studs, a brand new suit, diamonds and goals, the queen of swords, game or gamine, calling a bluff, building a bridge, a peg in a crib, a card in the spokes, off with her head, a deuce coup d'Ètat, a dead man's hand, tarot to rot, coming back in spades, not knowing jack but knowing jill, sex in the beds of fifty-two pickups. opening of fireflies, flowers grown wild in magnetic fields, petal or metal, filings of feelings, orgone sparkplugs, neon cosine, tangents and sins, a jump and a start, steel wool brush on a dendrite's end, sound of a speaker, a speaker of sound, the words not matching your mouth, she says, the magnet in the tornado's eye, morse code of pauses between the songs, rules of attraction and static cling, a seedy CD, perceptions of lack, the skip of a track, ozone smell of a trolley's wake, moonshine trapped in a leyden jar, eclectic shock waves lapping goodbye. viral affection, a ring is a rose, communion of aints, the forgiveness of ins, bitter fruit slice on the edge of a glass, stinging of salt on lips and wounds, you say clamato, cant of a can, a jesus christ pose, the biting of nails, bleeding or leading, the splice of life, stopping for death, chill of a negative double entendre, brittle or brutal, the mark of cain, the birth of a narc, an all-day sucker born every minute, faint perception of red wine stains, the slip of a knot, a casting of lots, floodplain lines of a northern face, the shadow of valleys in halogen light. the first of last calls, a pairing away, our glass figures, crossing the bar, random numb and random number, explicit implicit, the naming of cabs, a knowing mile, brass in her pocket, surplus surplice, black on white, the leather's grain, denim and boots, a feeling of oats, doppler of tail-lights, a bathurst marquee, what she doesn't say, the chasteness of locks, a fumble for keys, the world on a string, lakebed's abandon, remote control, flick of the switch, slow mushroom of a radium kiss. imaginary geometries, the arch of a neck as the bridge of a back, wings and thighs, bisected angels, pinpoints of light, a widening eyes, iris beach glass foveal blue, the muscle's dilation a trance in dance, a covenant's arc between carbon and copy, supple meant as a supplement, hymen without, the squeeze of a hand, crease and increase, the muscle's dilation, a little red dress or a little redress, hell and high water, a magnet for monsters, the byronic man, two tongues per mouth, no one desire, the muscle's dilation, the flick of a switch, eight arms and legs and a pound of flesh, a little love and a little death, the pooling of spilt infinitives.

the clear light.

a manitoban book of the dead, overdetermined and under the gun, triste after tryst, a tear or a tear, sins of emission, the ghost of a chance, a handful of air not a handful of hair, a futon's dream, black paper hearts, an arbitration of spiderwebs, the smile of a cat, bats at the window, her painted nails and the grain of the wood, contrail of loess after loss of control, abrasion of diatomaceous earth, differend or foe, anemone lips, galvanic responsibility, kicking off sheets from the skins of doves' eyes, a shred of respect, the exchange of habit, feeling not knowing, wet and dry dreams, a spangle of dew, brittle glass bones of the bachelor machine. retreat or retread, the echo of rain, futile or feudal, the great chain of having, the music of sferics, towers of song and the satellite dish, robins housed in a faraday cage, four metaphors, thought about trains, the doppler effect, a grinding of organs, aurora boreal silence of sound, hearing her here, a cricket's wing, marconi's revenge, shot of local synaesthetic, a ghostwritten otobiography, the sibilant automobile tires, golden earring and radar love, anvil and stirrup, reflections on chrome, specular love, a site for sore ears, vesta burgers at four a.m. the one in alone, a blue line home, ambient light through a lattice of louvers, blinders or blander, hair of the dog, scuttling sounds of mice in the walls, the ceiling's private zodiac, negative incapability, giving up to remote control, televison not telovision, pastoral cathodes, RGB, flashing noon on an LED, not much music, A and E, rhodopsin cartoons, the testing of patterns, subtotal flow, tides in the channel, message massage, courtney love not courtly love, murine in a cyclopean eye, iris beach glass foveal bloor. eight keys away, a twisted pair, smooth operator, a genuine phony, lying with or lying to, other as hitch and scrambling device, pages for cowards, not-Being there, telephone umbilical cord, prepositions and propositions, the rage of the real, paper cone as a poor diaphragm, a measure of longing's optimal length, heartache or headache, bird on a wire, the harmony model, star sixty-nine, machines of blinding exactitude, heidegger's guilt, a tension to noise, all right if I put you on hold, she says. emotional pharmacology, basal burns, molecular bonds, stricture of structure, a neural receptor, roof of an eye and the lashing of tongues, albert hoffman's bike ride home, gray jellyfish in a tidepool of flesh, an unsympathetic system of nerves, libretto sung by a phantom limb, ergot ego, master of realty, a white rabbit's watch, the wire tap root, an encore performance, hans bellmer's barbie, tachyphylaxis, toxic psychosis, eraser of traces, windowpane reign, the light that leaks between skin and skin. astroglide gleam, the trail of a slug (pecker tracks west of winnipeg), anaÔs nin and her nine inch nails, deleuzean love, a left-handed poem, eggplant skin, the blues explosion, five more years, unicorn pads, memory of her collarbone's line, flower petals on angora black, feedback loop, the landing stripped bare, a tissue swipe, glycerine terror, sour times, succubus on the TTC, how joan of arc felt, the ice cream koan, everyone fucked up but peter mcphee. respite not rest, forbidding of morning, insomniacs dream of an unbroken fast, camels and coffee, sandpaper sockets, a definite maybe from an oasis, tilex and mold, crystal of drano, two thousand flushes foveal blue, bataille in the bathroom, smell of teen spirit, a sheaving of plans and a shaving of palms, sad tomato beside the eggs, three miles of bad road on lower spadina, potholes, plot holes, em ty but full, beg in the big inning, a different end. exile in guyville, city of books, the dusting of trophies and kissing of relics, adamant not adam ant, a request for mark twain's greatest hits, a broken spine, the ear of a dog, frankincense, gold, and tylenol 3, poker and poking, cashier cachet, fossilized forms on the poetry shelf, remainder reminder, stripping of covers, nietzsche boxing eternal returns, hurt penguins and egos, a separate piece. back to the future, a cafÈ waif, bootleg smokes, the outrider here, gerard de nerval out walking a lobster, no free lunch, the bisexual rack, blankest of stares or blanket of stars, peasant not pleasant, carded for bread, ice tea under the oxygen tent, the migratory little black dress, macadamacademia, fungus on starch, pawns for a queen, tiny slice of a dying god, james p. joyce and the boy from brazil. back of the future, industrial strength, concrete cabal, the red and the black, ossuary for comrade snow white, dark waterloo, barb wire kisses, bondage over a fresh tattoo, a static age, a homo dj, finial or final solution, too much foam, the fall downstairs, crypt or encrypt, an index for assholes, juice for death. who says your prayers when you're blowing ëem off, a martyr to the lost cause effect, "friend" as a bludgeon, anosagnosia, seal of wax on the coat of her arm, rift as gift, the gist of a joust, zero-sum games and the damage done, spoonfed projections, a full-cover bleed, wanting to tell not wanting to ask, elegy as a circle jerk, felix and oscar, ignobel prize, the downside of playing doctor watson. she says, sometimes the answers just come in the mail, outside chance, a snail's pace, song of the slim, a busted flush, remission admission, aversion oversion, wounding of heals not heeling of wounds, another round, streaks of a tumbler, doubt, regret, and the circus leaves town. a massive attack, the force of the blow, a round of arms, a boy and a girl, lack of fear, the way it should be, one when you fall, a girl and a boy, looking so small, the shelter of need, arms around, fear of lack, the way that she feels. iris beach glass foveal blues, robert johnson's terraplane, sling or an arrow, aftershock, wallow, glitter of tin through a crumbling wall, expiry date, emergency exit, flotsam, jetsam, strain down the drain, anaphrodisiac antidote for the neurochemical basis of need. anger and hunger, a roto-rooter, postage due on an abject male, bait and switch, voluntary withdrawal, holding patterns, vise as advice, temporal fugue, an impatient outpatient, wild hearses over the hills. that which has missed us, body as keloid, gregor samsa's roach motel, soul on ice, a rock and an island, big yellow dog's unconditional love, binge, purge, the spider sense, a sackful of rats as comparative term. anomalous readings and recalibration under the cranial theremin ouija, psychic tv, coat hanger antenna, fetal flaws or fatal laws, too much whining, not enough wine, endless debate (half empty or full), girl guides on brownies poured in a cab, five bucks out three stones from the sun. wearing thin of her lovers like jewels, casual causal, spiral predation, too many irons and not enough fire, the one time she asks rather than says, know or say no, responsible loss, malcontents of the limit case. rejection of pain as a child's brass badge, handcuff to sorrow, mettle not metal, dwindling sand, the need to avoid the need to repeat, the need to repeat the need to avoid, scrape of a callus on slide guitar. string of words as a poor man's pearls, end of the tape, corrosion of signs, phosphordot debt, remains of the name, a saturated imagined solution. constraint of form and form of constraint, solar cells of a satellite muse, why she writes or is written about, art as a hammer meets art as a mirror, fading of signals into the night. mind on the mend, a nagging doubt, reversion to source, a cupping of wounds. older and younger, dumber than ever, f ck and an absent shifter. a justness of cause or just because, everything she says is peripheral

at the clear spot.