.GREENSPEEC1I -- David Meltzer

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GREENSPEECH

, David Meltzer

christopher books 1970

Copyright 1970 by David Meltzer

CHRISTOPHER BOOKS Unicorn Book Shop

905 Embarcadero del Norte Goleta, California

These 4 are from EDEN BOOK which, when done, will be black ink on green leaves bound together with vines & twigs: mulch-able. The other dream finds us all Oriental poets instantly composing poems with twigs & pebbles, or brushing the poem on huge boulders with ink made from crushed berries & a brush made of moss & hemp fibers.

DIAMOND & BREAKING BREAD are dedicated to Michael McClure who, many years ago, re-vealed the green atom to me as well as the world of fern-capped elves, the inner and outer earths.

DM 12:69

HELICOPTER

Torn clouds stain sea water With shadows black as oil-slick

Vision of sick seals Whales puking-out factory death The dolphin goes cuckoo Detergent itching his senses Squid turns stiff Strange rimless wheel floating

Neptune in scuba-suit Races along the sudsy bottom His magic gone, useless Screaming unheard bubble alphabet

Torn clouds stain seawater With shadows black as oil-slick.

BREAKING BREAD

Break bread with Fish spirit In Hot sun high above the table Many flies hum around his salty form

Luncheon with Cub Bear spirit On the terrace where birds feed Fearlessly on sunflower seeds I put out every morning

V-8 Juice cocktails Mid-noon With Father Snake Who talks so quickly I must tape it down on one speed Run it back on a slower speed To hear his many mysteries

Supper with Brother Fox spirit Tear lettuce apart -So it bleeds water crystals & in delight of candlelight Drink good white wine well-chilled & dry Start singing the inevitable praises of earth Our home & unfortunate battleground

Wake at dawn beside the peaceful form of Lady spirit & as birds return to singing & grey mist is opened by sun's thrust I run my fingertips along The landscape of her body Take a sunrise shower Under the waterfall Scrubbed by branch & the spirits of Invisible atom & molecule

Fresh & clean to break bread with Fish spirit In mid-morning Sun high & hot above the _table Flies humming around his salty form & he has many stories to tell me & brings them up, one. at a time In sequence like a staircase Leading to luncheon again with Cub Bear spirit

& so forth & so on & on & on This is my life of the moment recorded My dream, my reality Some of all of my faces Foryou&you

& especially for you The ladies in my home Who always come back for more

DIAMOND

What can be said of the sprite (Elemental fairy hermaphrodite) Racing out from fern cover to Grab the Diamond away from Coaldust-black hands Watching it sparkle in sunlight Light transformed to rainbow rays Auras of holy dead spirit masters Swimming & flying around the Jewel

The photographer stands there dumb Founded, eye stuck to lens A long telephoto from Dresden Extends from his face Like the Unicorn's horn

The field-trip's recorder Listens to tape-spools revolve & whisper Capturing no sound but heavy breathing

The wind-up is classic like John McGraw or Bob Feller or Koufax Y ogic backbend spine-str.etch Fingertips upon the seams Feeling the weave let go Lets go of the Diamond

Miner, photographer Recorder, elemental All of us watch the Diamond soar Once more into space Cloudless bright Blue sky A magic meteorite Out of sight Gone

IT'S SIMPLE

It's simple. One morning Wake up ready For new work. Pet the dog, Dog's not there. Rise & shine Sun's not there. Take a deep breath. No air. Look for the sun. No sun.

It's simple. Wake up one morning Ready for new work & the animals are on strike With the air, the sea, the Earth quits us. Casts us off Like a sickness in her firey core .

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One thousand copies of this book have been printed by Noel Young, January nineteen hundred and seventy with help from sycamore and oak leaves blown down on Santa Barbara. Fifty copies of this edition have been bound in boards by Earle Gray, and have been numbered and signed by the author.

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