Category: Writing

“The Great Order of the Universe” turns out to be LEGO

July 5, 2009 · Leave a comment ·

I’m a little bit behind on my poetry journals, so I was very pleased to receive a link from Vito to an item featured in the current issue of Poetry Magazine.

The text on the left is a translation of a section from “The Great Order of the Universe” by Greek philosopher Democritus and the text on the right is from the 1959 LEGO brick patent by Godtfred Kirk Christiansen. The two texts are anagrams.

Now, my inner poet was rather disappointed that Christian Bök beat me to a LEGO-themed item in a major poetry journal. Sadly, my pair of poems published in Prairie Schooner last year were free of little plastic bricks. I take some consolation in the fact that Bök’s piece is in the “Flarf & Conceptual Writing” section. Perhaps I can write that Great LEGO Poem yet.

I’m glad I’m not the only LEGO fan who also reads Poetry, Vito.

Directions for a Walking Tour of London on a Thursday Night

May 31, 2009 · Leave a comment ·

There is art in staying lost.

It doesn’t matter where you start;
     you’ll look up and find yourself
          on Piccadilly Lane.
Moments later,
     a street that sells nothing
          but guitars.
Don’t check the map
     tucked away in the bag
          you bought just for this trip.

Watch the man in a kilt
     stand on a ladder
          and juggle swords.
Leave a dollar for the American
     who fails to flick a card
          onto the roof of Covent Garden
     time after time.
Push through
     the suits and dresses
          outside a theater
               showing The Lion King.

As you squeeze into a bench
     facing a wall covered
          in French movie posters,
     the sky outside darkens.
Use strange money
     for the first time
          to order falafel with a Coke.
Watch how much others tip.

The streets have nearly emptied
     when you see
          Nelson’s Column rise
     against clouds lit from behind
          by the moon.
Keep walking.

Turn right and climb the steps
     into the gallery. Make your way
          from room to room,
     saving Rembrandt
          and Van Eyck for that moment
     when your feet finally give out.

Sit there
     in the silence
          and see how their light
     glows in the dark.