how far out
is out there
don’t knowdon’t know
tongue and groove
tool and die
John and Merce
far outnot out therelooking leapt
they’re out,
far out,
past the Be-In
leapt in the 40s dropped in their 20s
musical patterns
riffs, triplets
double trio
dissonance
improvisational
siren wail
tinkling glass
gurgling toilet
water & pipes
bubbling of bong
rustling
rustling cows
rustling paper
paper cut,
cut out the
Mercy float of Candlemas fair.
Leapt.
Float out
off
got off
on / off
the bus
high water mark
moment too far out
out for a while
not out of it
not
recover undercover lover
out beyond there
tool and
groove
tongue and die
pimp and John
Ho Ho
Ho
out of bounds
out of relief
out of time
out of
habit
she drew the blinds
out of light
out of energy
out of
night
out beyond dawn
out beyond stick figures
placing
pennies
on their eyes,
on the piano strings
bolt cutters
tuning interdimensional
yoke and yak
out
out there
leapt and leapt
leaping still
jar to jar,
falling
still
one hand trap
ripe ripped
offed offer
out
outed
they’re there
their out—there
unaware
of wavelength
oscillation
pounding
Fenollosaing
wave breakers
out there
wavelength
breakers flipped
flugelhorn long
not
e
flat far away,
cresting crust out
their
Happening
Ted
and Tom
Hap
pen
ingdon’t know
how
out there
they’re
their
has become
keep on leaping
keep on leaping
don’t know tool &
die
keep on keeping on
far out
far out
don’t know
tongue a
groove,
Basa Nova,
Samba,
Fado,
pinched strings
John
Cage
have mercy
Merce Cunningham
know how far out
is out there
pennywise
pennywhistle
penny-farthing
cycling
Penny darling
marble corner
cold as Olson’s
prose and
pose topless
great father
out there
all-night obscura
leapt Kerouac
leapt
Colin Kaepernick —
onto the playing field
oddly uneven
sphere of influence
subjugation
domination and
discipline
knelt at strains
oh can you
feel the
pain
Tom Murphy is the 2021-2022 Corpus Christi, Texas Poet Laureate. Murphy first published poems and fiction in 1986. Winner of the Charles Gordone award in both poetry and fiction. Murphy’s books & CDs: Snake Woman Moon (El Grito del Lobo Press, 2021), Pearl (FlowerSong Press, 2020), American History (Slough Press, 2017), co-edited Stone Renga (Tail Feather Press, 2017), chapbook, Horizon to Horizon (Strike Syndicate, 2015), CDs “Live from Del Mar College” and “Slams from the Pit” (BOW Productions, 2015, 2014). Murphy is the Langdon Review’s 2022 Writer-In-Residence. Murphy is a committee member of the Corpus Christi People’s Poetry Festival. He teaches at Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi.
Ted Pope is a performance poet and artist. His multiple collections of poetry include Varve (2013), rEdlipsticK (2005), Waiting for Charlie Brown (2011) with Tim Peeler, plus the CD Hannibal takes Luna. His latest book of poems is Jousting from the Back of a Mule (2020).