ELIZABETH-JANE BURNETToh-zones

NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS

oh-zonesElizabeth-Jane

Burnett

Published in the United Kingdom in 2012by The Knives Forks And Spoons Press, 122 Birley Street, Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, WA12 9UN.

ISBN 978-1-907812-88-0

Copyright ⓒ Elizabeth-Jane Burnett, 2012.

The right of Elizabeth-Jane Burnett to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents act of 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.

Table of Contents

preface 5

available sky 7

villanelle in green 9

sharks, in their absence 11

refuge wear 13

bees 14

women “nature vs robo” 15

ex-pastoral 16

whords

breath-chords 17

sun-chords 18

5

preface

oh-zones are attempts to find forms of embodiment in environments and language under pressure. There is a progression through the sequence from the position of an observer of transitions between rural and urban spaces, through to a sense of selves acting out in the world (and the limitations of what can be achieved in times of natural disaster) and on to a more integrated embodiment of, and in, nature and writing that produces something other than “nature writing.”

“Whords” – words experienced as chords – explore simultaneity in perception and identity. Breath-chords couple words of the same length in a breathing motif, while sun-chords integrate whords into the haibun form, with each word in the central section corresponding to a musical note. The expression of multiple simultaneous perceptions allows a figuring of the paradox of being at once part of nature and removed from it. There is potential here for living more organically through and with language and space.

The heartache in stems, the resilience of pink and the necessity of sharks inhabit these sensory-zone-poems; inhaling, releasing and resonating through stress.

7

available sky

-brockley to london bridge

funding cuts and corporate slutssprayed platformcolours are dumped pink salmonyouth centregoldsmiths sainsburys the onlysun burstingorange over dreams beds @low prices

1/3 off hugs with your sonif you seesomething suspicious press thesky sags withtrees bedecked with plastic bagsfrom costcutter

jewels hang from cranes round this neckof sky asavailable business spaceleaves on linefast trending into spring coloursblown through calvesof air extending past theproduct placement

gusting neon supermarket lightsdispersing daylight filtersthrough Londonis rooting every itemto the earthdiscounting nature ducting

8

dew that fallselectric over flowergrass or spraytanning the air with glare ofretail lightclutter excessivequiet sun

9

villanelle in green

-worcester park to waterloo

asda, with your green lightI prefer you to lidlin that moment’s flight

between glass and lightI prefer you to lidlasda, with your green light

what a feeling a delightis flashdance the musicalsublime in the half-light

of asda’s vast spot-lightvertigo-like in middleof revolving kissed light

embracing it likekim novak suicidalI take flight

into sainsbury’s orange light reminds me of lidlbut not quite sunlight

is not like the lightthat lights lidlthat light is a stiff light

it irons the air brightyellow with red middlebricks of sick light

this whole sky is a tricked light

10

seeing is reversiblelight flight light flight

like all the light in sightis impossibleunless viewed inside out Iight

I look out of light

it is april

the sky is an apple

11

sharks, in their absence

in an oceanhealthy coral is firstborne out by presenceof sharks, in their absence,scientists determine the entireecosystem is under(dressed duress house or hold kerosene with flowersarm the retro domesticfor a modern spillthrough rubber) pinned by marigold skin sugar-coated spin of sea at 30 degrees these deeds seethe (look up controlled environmentmarigolds) as the softcollapse of coral barely registers as nuditywashes backlessover water fresheningas one thing becoming other retrieving still something from some original in an ocean evidence ofhealthy oil is first borne out bydrops into industrialsplits the skin of itquaint to think of drinkor touchan ocean brokenI collected BP tokensgot a mug and a glass and a nicam video recorder by sticking green shield stamps into an ocean ofevidence of slip

12

if not reef then tongueif not gulf then stream actual physical evidence (CNN run curved fish rubber trust mis-crust or incorrectly sheathewith panoramic gold slicksilk/smear stack/flat the names of everything: flora, fauna, Shell, sea through this transparency:who funds poets but poetswho funds ethics but oil) who reads anything now that is incredible read: credible but poets,in their absence,sharks

13

refuge wear

- after lucy orta

! ! in a life where everything is falling! ! disturbance is routine unchecked as air! ! unblueing I try to cleave the colour! ! pull oxygen shrug tighter shouldering planet’s tension as my own undoing everything unbuttoning in the tear of matter my temporary refuge wear! ! is part-kagool part-canoe part-sleeping! ! bag I chafe across car parks searching for! ! a blue fix just one to take the edge off! ! there is too much I am trying to save ! ! and say nothing makes a dent I’m too soft a protest rests inside polyester

! ! a light fallout with each unfastening wave

14

bees

breathing beeswild thyme

navy and caramel

are neutral territorya zip through the middle

of everything vital

is foldingthe head is antennae

the body reducing

the form of a sentenceblack atoms in a new unsolving

15

women “nature vs robo”

original cotton robotwrap around ribcagefor new twist on classicpink on branch or onlinewomen-nature pitchdrones in the productdetail of official store ofurban leaves, trees etcbuds in the vegas blushof palette #4982 you areat: home with flowersadd to wishlist swallowsabove and beyond women“nature vs robo” wishbone t-shirts in storefor another encasing

16

ex-pastoral

I have gathered all this openingin the head gathered up likecrocuses you took as proof ofsomething public, out there, soI can’t take it back arched I gatherup the parts you took as proofof our being there, warmed intopostures the sun expects of usand language likewise lazilyopening

a shot, suddenly a wing in the heada pulse a flap of blue snapping pulsepetals drain suddenly a blue breakswith responsibility owed bodilytuning one atop another blue bluearms with enough pluck to pop theswank of the pastoral a suddenrefusal to lap or blossom regularly

black gun blue blue

shot through and through stemsstill warm from bed awakeningthrough a red filter to the sunalready moved on to another

17

breath-chords

IDebb

hillfall

flunglungs

tenderexhale

browsersunfall

her

softrisk

fallsfills

suckedinhale

whetherweather

lavenderdownfall

uptouchedrainprint

outsidesensory

handheld

lilacwager

chanceexhale

fluttermoments

unclenchsunspent

flattenedriblocked

attentivelandlicks

lungfillattempts

bothingbreaths

heartcurve

velvetinhale

shutterbalance

couplingsequence

butterflybreathing

repetitiontechnology

courageousstructures

intricateparallels

volatilebranches

breathlooped

scentedbeating

wirelessexposure

spectaclestreaming

mechanisedvulnerable

butterfliesdownloading

transitoryfingertips

18

sun-chords

begin with inhaletogether breathing syntax

we arrive at words

cut at the gap; lung-heart, shaft-light, dog-rose; living in cuts made in and out of language, the shallow end is populated by sunflowers above and below the city centre is no longer scarred by luxury, carrying warning hot shivers over barcodes, every exit radiates in spring chords throb hesitating to rent or own a high-rise blue nymphs open afternoon curtains onto traffic un-herded shepherd-boys shimmer in taxis over the river and lift greenbelts open housing pink sunset clouds unbuckling

hotlitter litter

filter

hot

filter

low

litterfilter

cost

litter

clouds

cost

traffic

low

litter

clouds

cost

litter

filter

traffic

low

litter

cost

litter

clouds

cost

hot

filter

sunflowers

traffic

low

litter

warning hot shiversshimmer and lift open pink

unbuckling clouds