Octobiographia and Sphinx Infinitives

Tyrone Williams

Octobiographia

 

17 when 1 was I.D.’d—

verbalized, I’d

be jobbed, id

be damned, dammed up

be Colorado B.

D.—in short, jettison Daddy

very well from which I’d

draw, drawn. T’woz ’71…

Sphinx Infinitives

 

Here—ahead-

a first cross-

dressing humanimal

 

an index finger over the lips of God,

                                                            pursed

sleight-of-smile

a bow suspended

above the bridge

 

overture to an overture

                                                            bent slight.

 

Here looms

raised brow

heir to heir-

 

loom and ‘fro the sweat-

 

tomb of the unknown slave

 

where for every Khafre work

there will have been a Khulu work-

                                                             shop chopped

 

                            off

 

ankh sans an

 

Tunisia, Tunisia, wherefore art, Tunisia?

 

Dizzy chicken

                        careens skyward

          squawk ex-x

where for every exuberant here! hear

                   ye/you—

string instrument of the middle finger

                   excluded

 

Morocco-pressed into service elevates Egypt—

                                    revolver with a rifle scope

abases Syria—

                                    revolving v. reinforced fire-

doors/power—

Unmoved.

 

So moved:

Hor-Em-Ahket

is to be, the

 

                                    motion, having passed,

 

inflates to

as it wards

off-peak ad

 

                                    hoc olfactum

 

Tyrone Williams
Tyrone Williams

Tyrone Williams teaches literature and theory at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the author of five books of poetry, c.c. (Krupskaya Books, 2002), On Spec (Omnidawn Publishing, 2008), The Hero Project of the Century (The Backwaters Press, 2009), Adventures of Pi (Dos Madres Press, 2011) and Howell (Atelos Books, 2011. He is also the author of several chapbooks, including a prose eulogy, Pink Tie (Hooke Press, 2011). His website is at http://home.earthlink.net/~suspend/