Chris Tysh

Pornē I come to without slurring 
            a prostitute what goes on 
     & they smoke in venetian red 
nails porphyry eyes full of money one 
            wakes at night to touch the color 
    TV it is hers nothing is 
illegal porcupine porch pork-barrel 
           slow porridge produced by strangers 
  she said she couldn't afford the breast- 
feeding so much undressing 
             there's one's port 
  or carriage 
                   to think of 
 
                          • 
 
       barren sterile matrix of another 
weave mistaken for tradition 
              charms she put to work 
      around rosy spike other 
instruments I only gave her 
            a few small nips 
     UNOS CUANTOS PIQUETITOS 
he said after 
             it was over 
     and now there's pink ribbon 
with said words flapping in mid air 
           borne back against their heads 
 
                          • 
 
            some can't tell the difference 
      they watch a pope 
or pimp display pomp 
           by floating US arms long silky hair 
    scarcely a wind promise of 
                                                panic 
                                                echoic 
            head in the door 
     to put suddenly eyes 
protruding in a realistic style 
           I add for good measure 
     puffed up rituals eaten as confection 
and propose marriage 
            by roasting pharmaceutical powder 
     in a screened room leading out to
an order of cleanliness the soldier-men are 
             charged with loss later peace 
 
                          • 
 
I want to throw together what I know 
           with several angles & sides lick 
     the baby spoon many times I felt 
such fascination Pornē could I have done it 
             in my Anna Karina black velvet dress 
 
I take liberties with your image 
           as you do mine there's plenty of
     room even trees become this fluttering 
question cultivated like the reddish belladonna 
            eventually everything grows 
     into a formal arrangement anything 
bought or sold harasses 
 
                          • 
 
            she has alegría 
     functional intelligence for potboilers 
turnip row she spits 
            in the bidet it becomes her label de qualité 
     a curious charm bracelet 
Dear God why can't she have powerhouse 
             political steam morning papers 
     like she once did esp. The World outdoor 
races fall fashions & licorice 
                                            grants 
     already I see her rise at dawn 
carrying a black attaché-case filled 
           with critical material (mostly 
   dialectical materialism & psychoanalysis) 
she has scheduled a final 
              reunion of form and matter 
        but only after the gratuities 
have been paid indeed only after 
            castration a powder puff leaves a trail 
     of language as she exits the theater 
but the name nobody seems to remember 
            something exotic like Bangkok 
     moist abdomen under examination 
 
                          • 
 
What hides a damaged glass plate 
             mother-daughter in imitation 
      of a novel lounge on blue couch 
starts a trend later 
            will secure history: 
    ankles bangs towelettes a swelling 
everyone comes to 
 
 La prostituzione, dunque, é uno degli aspetti 
 dolorosi della società umana. La nostra sen- 
 sibilità di uomini civili, la considera un as-
 petto turpe e laido. Ma non sempre è stato così. 
 
                          • 
 
             Sleep       Sleep 
      I am divorcing the song 
in its woody purlieu let it be 
            violent & public like tear-gas 
     between my legs I want to 
address you with greatest respect 
              get rid of impurities 
       on the way to speech 
a punctum now & then 
            the possibility of 
    relieve me of the duty to police