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Category: NaPoWriMo

POEM: skreeks & skronks

Published 10 April 2012 by Jason Crane

skreeks & skronks

plectrum scraping against metal wire
string theory: indeterminate length
you take two bodies & mash their atoms
collisions yielding energy / heat / light
what if I gave you this & you kept it?
one note in the bass arpeggio above
we assimilate Italian terms because we
have no adequate words to describe this
aural multiverse through which we’re flying
add drums bring to boil reduce heat simmer
there are saved onions in the fridge
they’ve accepted Jesus into their cores
peeled away the layers of freewill
acknowledged their eventual dicing in service
of the Lord & his supper table
bring me the head of Robert Fripp &
five white people who can clap on two & four
then lay me down in sheets of sound
John Coltrane has my blood on his hands
from when he slipped & I caught him
he hovers above the bed in judgment
waiting for his ascension when he’ll be
seated at the right hand of Earl “Fatha” Hines
“if all you can play are squeaks & honks
then you’re not really free”

10 April 2012
Brooklyn NY

/ / /


It’s National Poetry Writing Month! A poem a day, each day in April. This poem is a piece of free writing, written while listening to Brooklyn EP by Terrence McManus and Below The Surface Of by Terrence McManus and Gerry Hemingway.

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POEM: which I should be for you.

Published 9 April 2012 by Jason Crane

which I should be for you.

I celebrate myself and,
I am assuming that you are you expect,
each atomille, which belongs to me if a good is for you.

In my heart, and,
by inviting Loafe loafen helppoudessani. . . . Summer viewing spear grass.

/ / /

I celebrate myself and,
I expected that you are you are you waiting for,
each atomille, which belongs to me if my good for you.

Through and through, and,
by inviting Loafen vetelehtinyt helppoudessani. . . . Summer keihäsruohon Watch

/ / /

I celebrate myself and,
I would have expected that you are you are you pending,
each atomille hyväni, which belongs to me if you.

And, as profoundly
Vetelehtineelle vetelehtinytille helppoudessani. . . . Summer keihäsruohon investigation

/ / /

I celebrate myself and,
I I I I would have expected that you are you are you,
each atomille hyväni which I should be for you.

And deeply
Vetelehtineellenä vetelehtinytillenä helppoudessani. . . . Summer keihäsruohon Research

9 April 2012
Brooklyn NY


It’s National Poetry Writing Month! A poem a day, each day in April. To make this poem, I entered the first two stanzas of the 1855 edition of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” into freetranslation.com and translated them into Finnish, then back into English, then back into Finnish, until there were six iterations of each language. Then I used the first, second, third and sixth translations to create this version. This is based on one of Charles Bernstein’s suggested experiments. Here’s Whitman’s original text:

I celebrate myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease . . . . observing a spear of summer grass.

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POEM: monkey mind

Published 8 April 2012 by Jason Crane

monkey mind

“Matt, this is Chris.”
“Chris, this is Danni. With an ‘i.'”
“Danni, this is Nicole.”
“I think we met at the book club.”
“David, this is Stacy.”
“Hi, these are my parents. They’re in
        from Sweden.”
“We’re here for 20 days.”
“C.C., there are no eggs over there.”
“Someone go tell C.C. that all the eggs
        are over here.”
“Honey, we hid them so we know
        where they are.”
“What time are you guys starting
        your Easter egg hunt?
        Because we were going to start
        around 11 and we don’t want
        to get in your way.”
“I think we just lost some of our eggs
        to the competition.”
“Kids, go to the doggie park. The
        doggie park. Go to the
        doggie park.”
“I think that guy is meditating.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.”

8 April 2012
Prospect Park
Brooklyn, NY


It’s National Poetry Writing Month! A poem a day, each day in April. I meditated in Prospect Park today in what started as an empty field and became an Easter egg hunt.

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POEM: summer squash and ginger

Published 7 April 2012 by Jason Crane

From Buddha In The Modern World (Ongoing Photo Essay)

summer squash and ginger

on the cushion
noticing the breath
waiting for the same bubble
to rise to the surface
of the still water

it breaks open
scenting the air with
summer squash and ginger
sends ripples across
the pond

it comes
as sure as moonrise
as regular as the eventide
fills me with longing
unsettles me

so I return
to noticing the breath
let the next bubble burst
without fragrance
without sound

7 April 2012
Brooklyn NY


It’s National Poetry Writing Month! A poem a day, each day in April.

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