Portrait

	PORTRAIT TEN (Solo voice) Studying "aberrant" behaviour for clues to those restrictions social communication imposes on desire, I watch her moving from table to table attempting communication. Her woolly blue hat, scarlet shirt, and her coat - green - prepare customers for what's in store for them: language unhinged. . . pure poetry. . . desperate need. . . I'm glad she didn't come to my table: I like language unhinged. . . pure poetry. . . desperate need. . . within the safe and secure context of cultural discourse. Observing the uncared-for in the community provides a benchmark for my own sanity. . . and a goal for my wilder writings. I will make this paradox explicit: I observe and avoid what I crave: language unhinged. . . pure poetry. . . desperate need. . . Life's too short to care much for the uncared-for. Or, that other paradox: who sees 'reality' clearly? Does she? Or is it me? Are stereotypes of thought any use. . . any more than those of individuals, or is language always unhinged. . . poetry desperate. . . need pure? What is the point of writing crap like this? Does it communicate ambivalence? Is its value dependent on whether it changes the government's policy? Look to political processes not to unhinged language. . . desperate poetry. . . pure need. . .

PORTRAIT TEN (Solo voice)

Studying "aberrant" behaviour
for clues to those restrictions
social communication
imposes on desire,
I watch her
moving from table to table
attempting communication.
Her woolly blue hat,
scarlet shirt, and her coat -
green - prepare customers
for what's in store for them:
language unhinged. . . pure poetry. . . desperate need. . .

I'm glad she didn't come
to my table: I like
language unhinged. . . pure poetry. . . desperate need. . .
within the safe and secure
context of cultural discourse.

Observing the uncared-for
in the community provides
a benchmark for my own sanity. . .
and a goal for my wilder writings.
I will make this paradox explicit:
I observe and avoid what I crave:
language unhinged. . . pure poetry. . . desperate need. . .

Life's too short to care
much for the uncared-for.
Or, that other paradox:
who sees 'reality' clearly?
Does she? Or is it me?
Are stereotypes of thought
any use. . . any more than those
of individuals, or is
language always unhinged. . . poetry desperate. . . need pure?

What is the point of writing
crap like this?
Does it communicate ambivalence?
Is its value dependent on whether
it changes the government's policy?
Look to political processes
not to unhinged language. . . desperate poetry. . . pure need. . .