My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer

FIVE WORDS FOR JOE DUNN ON HIS TWENTY-SECOND BIRTHDAY

As beautiful and angry as they were. She merely wipes their shadows from our hearts, Shakes out her broom, and shuts the final door. “The city of Boston . . .” The city of Boston is filled with frogheaded flies and British policemen. The other day I saw the corpse of Emily Dickinson floating up the Charles River. Sweet God, it is lonely to be dead. Sweet God, is there any god to worship? God stands in Boston like a public statue. Sweet God, is there any God to swear love by? Or love—it is lonely, is lonely, is lonely to be lonely in Boston. Now Emily Dickinson is floating down the Charles River like an Indian princess. Now naked savages are climbing out of all the graveyards. Now the Holy Ghost drips birdshit on the nose of God. Now the whole thing stops. Sweet God, poetry hates Boston. FIVE WORDS FOR JOE DUNN ON HIS TWENTY-SECOND BIRTHDAY I shall give you five words for your birthday. The first word is anthropos Who celebrates birthdays. He is withered and tough and blind, babbler Of old wars and dead beauty. He is there for the calmness of your heart as the days race And the wars are lost and the roses wither. No enemy can strike you that he has not defeated. No beauty can die in your heart that he will not remember. Spicer: My Vocabulary Did This to Me page 58 58 The second word is andros Who is proud of his gender Wears it like a gamecock, erects it Through the midnight of time Like a birthday candle. He will give you wisdom like a Fool Hidden in the loins Crying out against the inelegance Of all that is not sacred. The third word is eros Who will cling to you every birthnight Bringing your heart substance. Whomever you touch will love you, Will feel the cling of His touch upon you Like sunlight scattered over an ancient mirror. The fourth word is thanatos, the black belly That eats birthdays. I do not give you thanatos. I bring you a word to call Him Thanatos, devourer of young men, heart-biter, bone-licker. Look, He slinks away when you name Him. Name Him! Thanatos. The last word is agape, The dancer that puts birthdays in motion. She is there to lead words. Counter to everything, She makes words Circle around Her. Words dance. See them. Anthropos ageless, Andros made virgin, Eros unmirrored, Thanatos devoured. Agape, Agape, ring-mistress, Love Spicer: My Vocabulary Did This to Me page 59 59 That comes from beyond birthdays, That makes poetry And moves stars. BIRDLAND, CALIFORNIA The stairs upstairs were stairs For the sake of ceremony If Gertrude Stein had tried them on tiptoe She would not have reached the 2nd floor. The 2nd floor was a floor For the sake of ceremony What I mean is This is a poem about Orpheus Orpheus, he had the weight of Eurydice upon his back He tried to carry her Up that imaginary stairway. Eurydice could be anyone. Is I suppose Anyone. That makes the poem harder. This night ( Joe Dunn could give a date October 1st That’s Joe Dunn’s date) But I can’t. Butterflies transfigure and burn In the absences of postmen. But Joe Dunn will come home Past all those unreal stairs Will Make a noise when the door opens, Spicer: My Vocabulary Did This to Me page 60 60 ...