TANGERINE
All day, I’ve been trying to remember
What music was coming from her radio
When the oak branch fell in her front yard.
I can’t remember. The music disappeared
When the crash occurred. The oak branch
Knocked down the electric wires.
There was no lights in her house.
She threw an ash tray against her wall.
She was angry about something
That happened at the beauty shop,
But would not talk about it.
She also threw a bottle of champagne
Against the wall. The bottle
Had never been opened.
There was so much noise
After the oak branch fell,
Even the Grecian Urn in the attic
Cracked and fell apart.
This moment was the last time I saw her.
I did not want to speak upon departure,
So I handed her a tangerine.
When I drove away, she was peeling the tangerine.
I wish I could remember the music I heard
Before the oak branch fell,
It was something I would like to preserve
From our long love affair.
THE BOY WITH THE SLING SHOT
AND THE GIANT
It is difficult to keep in stock
A statue of a boy with a sling shot.
These statues sell as soon as they arrive.
Usually when a customer buys a statue
Of the boy with the sling shot,
He also buys a statue of a giant.
But statues of Venuses are difficult to sell.
The more refined and intense the Venus
Statues are sculptured the more difficult to sell.
People often look at statues of Venuses
Leaning dusty in the corners and inquire
“Who is she?” Garish statues
Of strip-teasers and lap-dancers are
Easy to sell. The more tawdry
Sell the best, but never are best sellers
Like the boy with the sling shot.
COGNOSCENTI
When the newspapers were delivered
By the boy on the bicycle, every one talked.
But one day the delivery boy fell off the cliff.
The papers were not delivered any more.
No one talked anymore. There were many suicides.
One brave citizen decided to climb down
The jagged cliff’s side and bring back
The never-delivered newspapers, now
Old and yellowed. The old newspaper
Were read over and over. Even some
Of the suicides returned to life so they
Could read the old newspapers. People
Were surprised to see someone whose
Funeral they had attended sitting next
To them reading an old newspaper.
One ex-dead man was seen with
The rope with which he had hung himself
Still around his neck as he avidly read the sport pages.
SAXOPHONE
About 3 AM, people were awakened
By the sound of saxophones.
It was a disturbing sound, terrified the people.
On their knees, people peeped through their curtains.
They saw the saxophones, bright in the moonlight,
But could not make out who was playing
This disturbing and terrifying music.
The people grabbed their shotguns
And went outside to find the saxophone players.
When they went outside, they heard
The disturbing and terrifying sound
Coming from the insides of their houses.
From outside, the people peeped inside their houses,
Saw that they were playing the saxophones.
INSIGHT
Every afternoon he went to San Marco,
Looked at the desk where Savonarola
Wrote his works while standing up.
But this afternoon, he would not go
To San Marco, but to Piazza Palazzo Vecchio
To look at the plaque on the spot
Where Savonarola was burned.
As he stared at the plaque,
He took out his ball pen,
Broke it into bits, went
To the cantina to drink wine.
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 Duane Locke
2716 Jefferson Street
Tampa, FL 33602-16200
| Announcing: THREE NEW BOOKS OF POEMS By Duane Locke
[Duane Locke has renounced print publication to publish electronically. Duane Locke has over 4,000 poems published, over 2,000 in print publications, American Poetry Review, etc. and since September 1999, over 2,000 in e zines.]
1. Published in February, 2OO2, E book:
THE SQUID'S BLACK INK,
Published by Ze books (the publisher of poetry
For only 69 cents per book)
Contact: http.//www.blquanbeck.com.zebooks. Inquire:
NOVLNymph@aol.com or Ward708@aol.com
2. Published in February, 2002, E Book:
FROM A TINY ROOM,
Published in Spain by OTO' S E-BOOKS, http.//atotos.gksdesign.com/ebooks/locke or http://atotos.gksdesign.com/ebooks/buy1.htm or
http://www.atotos-ebooks.com
Inquire: guiam@wols.es.
Price: 5.60 Euros.
3, Forthcoming in April, 2002, E book:
THE DEATH OF DAPHNE,
Contains 50 poems never published before. To be published by 4*9*1, URL: 491.20m.com. Inquire: Stompdcr@aol.com Price $5.
Order the above through the internet.
[Duane Locke's 14th print book is still in print, WATCHING WISTERIA. Order from Vida Publishing via iod@ironoverload.org. Or order from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and many others. Paperback, $9.95; Hardcover, $19.95]
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[BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Duane Locke, Doctor of Philosophy in English Renaissance literature, Professor Emeritus of the Humanities, was Poet in Residence at the University of Tampa for over 20 years. Has had over 2,000 of his own poems published in over 500 print magazines such as American Poetry Review, Nation, Literary Quarterly, Black Moon, and Bitter Oleander. Is author of 14 print books of poems, the latest is WATCHING WISTERIA ( to order write Vida Publishing, P.O. Box 12665, Lake, Park, FL. 33405-0665, or Amazon or Barnes and Noble). Since September 1999, he became a cyber poet and started submitting on-line, and since September 1999 he has added to his over 2,000 print acceptances with 1,195 acceptances by e zines.
He is also a painter. Now has exhibitions at Thomas Center Galleries (Gainesville, FL) and Tyson Trading Company (Micanopy, FL) Recently a one-man show at Pyramid Galleries (Tampa, FL)
Also, a photographer, has had 116 of his photos selected for appearance on e zines. He photographs trash in alleys. Moves in close to find beauty in what people have thrown away.
He now lives alone in a two-story decaying house in the sunny Tampa slums. He lives isolated and estranged as an alien, not understanding the customs, the costumes, the language (some form of postmodern English) of his neighbors. The egregious ugliness of his neighborhood has recently been mitigated by the esthetic efforts of the police force who put bright orange and yellow posters on the posts to advertise the location is a shopping mall for drugs. His alley is the dumping ground for stolen cars. One advantage
Of living in this neighborhood, if your car is stolen, you can step out in the back and pick it up. Also, the burglars are afraid to come in on account of the muggers.
His recreational activities are drinking wine, listening to old operas, and reading postmodern philosophy.
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