Dusty Neu

1 poem

Dogs

Damage     here's a look at the rector sighing     suffering handles     here's a look at a map of the ferry terminal     there's a red fear that becomes routine     a family lashing away bad at their cares     damage     at passersby     defection     a family slipping out by handfuls     there's often     we can guess     a tightening somewhere     an ever tender fear     i suggested a sorry connection     i suggested care     even the rector had hands

As far as there might be me     one that may have been propped up
as in mostly still     a bit of me like a fine powder     following
closely     as in after a brother or a movable river     somewhere
we can guess     there’s a branch with a bird     & a copperhead under
a tire     then there’s along the wall     making the wall     that every
person’s a flexible tool to look around     there are hands     oranges
health     frequent storms & horses 

As far as a branch might be windows itself     hooves ring out     part
cough     part whimper striking the roof     cassettes     coffee
bouncing echo     like me     part cough

Pheasant in a soft area or a partridge

sad eyes of the walk & drag     & don’t want to lose
my
valley gaslights or
the light smoke in my head

Chapel island & crab claw island     thumb out to the marsh &
in the sky like a palm frond          a heap of concise flood
once filled the valley     flooded the sand     & moist air that clings
to the shore          a sick dog     wet gray wool with a swollen tongue
once sat on the dock at shiver island     once on egret island i
heard a chapel bell     then a mess of roses     then a face

Despite environmental signals a viewer achieves a misunderstanding via remarkable violations of spatial agreement     that unobstructed views in the direction of or a view of a sea or a sky or a park or a thing slightly wider than the road be marked with a sudden change in weather     that a month be roughly equal to a piece of fruit     that i not be given information regarding how i arrived in an area     there would be potential indications of men in a pond or hiding behind a tree     the effect of which maintains a kind of rolling volatility     that there are no characters but lines drawn by natural phenomena that appear to be acting in discrete situations     i disappoint the driver in some way so we don't talk & that could also be considered a key element

Basalt block beside a Thumb against my lip
black oak & i an echo or bolt
shed skin like from my rib & my
a salt block hollow hum

Shaking hands     an axis     a mirror solved the door with a one handed
handle for the door & more     a mirror at middle distance
& having shaken hands     men at a loss standing at the stove or
in the dining room     the naked parts of our drama     sitting on the floor
by the stove     they were on the floor
by the stove     & their shoes were off

Shaking leaves     looked my look through the window
the park with a basketball court with men in the rails & bushes &
screaming children     the sandbox by the court
diffuse light every
morning because it’s raining or burning leaves it was morning
& i was so let down
& so much a rubber dinghy alone on the lake at night

Neighbors or relatives who are in need of attention     this could be considered as central as private devotion or an area with leaves     perhaps from sight & mind     but always without     this might fall in line with ideas around wasted time     no excuses for forgetting when there's so little that has happened     from the beginning expect major changes     even if you have realistic expectations you might nevertheless be disappointed     the physical manifestation of chance     verifiable     these things take & take but you can stay as long as you want     even without a friend or a helpful dog     to go ahead & dive into     eat everything you see     spend everything one way or another     dim out like an underwater bell & come second to your own nature

There’s a winding structure which cuts through the fog     this morning
with the sun soft as a swollen tongue

There’s a black coating found only on thumbs     there are chairs
circles     there are empty stares from dogs     sliding doors empty
themselves     errors from back to six years or eight     a groaning
from a branch with people sitting on tailgates     there’s beer & waiting
& calling out to one another

You can at least see there are a finite number of forms     how
effectively they impart information one cannot say for sure     it seems
the main purpose is like a song or the simultaneity of events     someone
in stockton finds a snake under his water heater & a house burns down
in canberra     then the smoke is seen by stray dogs on the coast

The transparent connective tissue between things     it’s 1981 & we’re
breaking ground on a new housing development     or it’s 1991 & he
uses the word abattoir when in polite company     he maintains no
matter the method of killing every element is used     or almost every
element     often dizzied by a small sized photo & tucked in
at the sides & moving off towards the end of the line     but this i
arbitrary     in terms of time     our eyes among them in time

A few miles from his probably longtime home
horses in the street     a saintly place
strictly for potent animals     to share
the same land for potential business
six acres of trees     olives     nuts     coyotes     hornets
& there are stray dogs too

A few miles of crushed cars & scrap metal
his father in a distressed state leaves
the house for a trailer in
the desert
after a week of living a complex nature he realizes &
speaks i realized a lot of things & avalanches his name
through the door &
acts tenderly towards children & small animals

To watch the match between the hot valley here in November & calm
wind coming in     a straight layer     fringed yellow eyes panorama
leaden nonperson smile & deadlifting wisdom     such a grandfather as
“eyes” refers only to sweating the availability of size in the scene
                    new options detailed with an introduction
to walking on like bright wings on the hood line & glass & chrome
flying through a crowd

Towards the window i write my name in the window & sever myself
from balance 

dog’s body     consistent identity blessing
i’m seen on both sides of the rain
by intermittent severe rain & windows & severed windows
& two windows together like a physical ceremony

Drivers moving towards the sun     damage     a fixed object     part of understanding relations     an easy subjective step in comfort for a viewer who is in the mood for it     cooperation is what makes a message easy to send     like a helpful dog or having allowed a mild headache for a while     attention to burning leaves at eye level makes the experience through the body & so on     these observations emphasize the subjectivity a viewer recognizes as his own before any visual experience     being spied on     annoying details acting as gaps to reconnoiter over     i am curled up asleep in the back seat     feeling like a skiff at sea

An agreement     a cause for a communication     unlike songs     which are known to be different     the sequence can point to unconventional emotive associations like an area with leaves or boys singing for their relatives late at night     in the middle he stops & tells the them i hate this song which is intended to draw in a conflict between languages     i am beside myself as if the party speaks for itself     as if it were showing character or in a variety of characters a character     he seems emotional & that seems like a central idea     on the beach he is keen to point out bug bites & the like     a party at night or on the beach     a type of interpersonal presence where its participants are considered easily replaceable or rather     on the beach soft reciprocated movements like a receding ceremony

Next     around the corner     a deal of yoke for an ox yoked     to be
the road from me     a dark series of fences     a soft paradox     a quiet
share & wool     whistle glint my cladding softly to my hearing     a
dislodging     a pouring out of my bags     my bearing     my age
ache     insufficient hearing & my sensitive upper layers     & even the
newsman had hands

Next     follows around the corner          steps like low music
snow     or one’s own shadow

This is a diagram     cart or carry     ferries one away     some sulfur     suffering hateful a reed bed     refuse of sky or glacial time     how can green liquid or green meteorologies     separately travelled     hum to a same tune     what if i were to whistle against that or cladding     against more routine dysfunctions     fearing violations further     thumb out towards the marsh     i understand
but not everything

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Dusty Neu is a poet and translator from rural California. He co-translated Alessandro de Francesco's Remote Vision (Punctum Books) from the Italian and his poetry has appeared in VOLT, Hardly Doughnuts, and 3am. He lives with his wife, son, and two cats in Rhode Island where he works as a salesman.