(in memoriam AIDS)
Ronald Johnson
Then with a sweep
blindly eradicate
perception itself
afire with egress
step in a blink
blank as paper
few fields beyond
pure fallen Snow
rolled door aside
And stood beside space
a place of sepulcher
in splice of time
& kneel on stone
Looped red ribbon
flesh with bone
untwisted fate
everything a gift
after Totentanz
set fire to expanse
sight interminable
pale stampede
into the darkness
caught at throat
Chase remorseless
polished by light
bigger than life
meet Shade head-on
six feet deep
no ghost of chance
children of dust
chasing the Cyclone
around lost world
Fueled belief
lift thru rafter
freed frontier
ineluctable dross
hello chaos echo Alp
toe line precipice
flames at heel
fled pandemonium
stand under tornado
lightning renewal
flame climb mountain
to the naked eye
dark abjure dark
Tiger by first light
bordered in jungle
and door ajar
nor fear itself
before behind beside
crawl in inner ear
invade the mind
snap edge of fire
ear forfeit Puzzle
eyes all ablaze
fingers like candles
as if Stars above
had opened fire
no more the night
beneath my feet
yield redbird perch
grayest tombstone
assembled Holy Ghost
chrysanthemumed
Step now above
the river of grass
to sea of graves
pave way for all rest
flesh snug in choir
valley of bones
Ezekiel swung chariot
song anew throat
on this head of pin
I saw you there
standing on the edge
with wings aloft
light push light above
beneath spread Tree
to spin a tale
down dared a root
Into the bark carved
schewing cant
doors open on order
chaos sempiternal
wings’ intersections
almost nothing
Sky to themselves
blanket the earth
So darksparkling souls
as flame licketh up
consuming flesh
speak in cataract
dangle Scaffold
dread hammered nail
and hang by a thread
my daily bread
shall we ascend
stairwell Infinite
I hear it echo still
end on end on end
last curtain call
halfway up slope
Mt. No Return
time at standstill
led to sandcastle
whatever grail
at end of tunnel
Niagara in a barrel
bathed in light
Shadow gather
lion in the path
behind beyond
remember the dead
beating floorboards
of the Above
forehead first
whittle an Indies
scalpel frontier
step right into it
whistle the wind
Limb by limb belief
come tumble down
some terrible algebra
ull unbeknown
left in the cup
great waves torn
Dawn tomorrow
won apocalypse
& sought Wonders
ladder from the sky
aloft red clay
in midnight sun
unfolded banner
Au bateau & tombeau
rim of the world
at depths to plumb
of what’ll become
Mirror Mirror
on wall please tell
yet pace the drum
praise Rimbaud old
Van Gogh beyond crows
Mozart past clef
huzzah ghost crowd
banquet cleared
begin the raptors
bring on clown
and Mr. Highwire
Winter come early
wolves’ chorus
outside the door
howl keyhole
lit confetti
track barren plain
City of Angels
waterfall all round
right on target
ever toward Noose
my very horses
reach the stretch
Not one sparrow
witness my end
hawk winding down
name on the wind
beckon beacon
near rock bottom
Illimitable night
close at hand
voice from a cloud
clasped of asphodel
rise yet Lazarus
clear encrusted earth
whomever come
into the clearing
Null over void
grist starry mill
yr own backyard
cauldron of energies
of Sanctuary no end
hourglass almost empty
bombshell unleash
illuminate Himalaya
playing with fire
no lamp under bushel
say what you will
the Windmill is near
to edge of world
curtain drawn back
Enfold me wherever
night brought pinpoint
cyclone candlelight
arrays the stars
summon fled field
monster after monster
a Voyage fantastic
the very dirt alert
Imperil Utopia
where upon pure leap
power to umpteenth
no won Erewhon
bodies engraved
sweep up the stars
of all but Talisman
great bonfire
watch out the light
Sentinel utmost dark
once and for all
under roll diurnal
route to summit
drowned in labyrinth
eagle aperch pyre
& levitate Leviathan
stirring at core
galaxy revolved
and winding cloths
of design diverse
to All it comes
squall lack of breath
limbs lax no exit
home at last
collect each orb
on Skeleton Coast
goldust horizon
an infinity of sand
come whole circle
in zero gravity
spun remote points
exactly the One
miles from nowhere
Soul’s commotion
battering on wall
blind catafalque
old adversaries
wrestled to earth
in love with Death
abed lit candles
take me to the
lightning struck
in intimate thunder
sun Unthinkable
balance overtaken
slant snug of breath
up comes the floor
doors open to all
do what you must
bright Speckle Fly
caught amber cusp
come cataclysm
nor moment lost
red as an apple
an arrow acrown
buried in Arden
as Anthem forge
psalm of the soul
hammer of heart
mid burning bush
Into ranged breach
the snowy harbinger
footprints upslope
hard to breathe
mountains’ blue divide
nugget cloud prised
casket of song
cast off the Tomb
Then with a sweep
blindly eradicate
perception itself
afire with egress
step in a blink
blank as paper
few fields beyond
pure fallen Snow
rolled door aside
And stood beside space
a place of sepulcher
in splice of time
& kneel on stone
Looped red ribbon
flesh with bone
untwisted fate
everything a gift
after Totentanz
set fire to expanse
sight interminable
pale stampede
into the darkness
caught at throat
Chase remorseless
polished by light
bigger than life
meet Shade head-on
six feet deep
no ghost of chance
children of dust
chasing the Cyclone
around lost world
Fueled belief
lift thru rafter
freed frontier
ineluctable dross
hello chaos echo Alp
toe line precipice
flames at heel
fled pandemonium
stand under tornado
lightning renewal
flame climb mountain
to the naked eye
dark abjure dark
Tiger by first light
bordered in jungle
and door ajar
nor fear itself
before behind beside
crawl in inner ear
invade the mind
snap edge of fire
ear forfeit Puzzle
eyes all ablaze
fingers like candles
as if Stars above
had opened fire
no more the night
beneath my feet
yield redbird perch
grayest tombstone
assembled Holy Ghost
chrysanthemumed
Step now above
the river of grass
to sea of graves
pave way for all rest
flesh snug in choir
valley of bones
Ezekiel swung chariot
song anew throat
on this head of pin
I saw you there
standing on the edge
with wings aloft
light push light above
beneath spread Tree
to spin a tale
down dared a root
Into the bark carved
schewing cant
doors open on order
chaos sempiternal
wings’ intersections
almost nothing
Sky to themselves
blanket the earth
So darksparkling souls
as flame licketh up
consuming flesh
speak in cataract
dangle Scaffold
dread hammered nail
and hang by a thread
my daily bread
shall we ascend
stairwell Infinite
I hear it echo still
end on end on end
last curtain call
halfway up slope
Mt. No Return
time at standstill
led to sandcastle
whatever grail
at end of tunnel
Niagara in a barrel
bathed in light
Shadow gather
lion in the path
behind beyond
remember the dead
beating floorboards
of the Above
forehead first
whittle an Indies
scalpel frontier
step right into it
whistle the wind
Limb by limb belief
come tumble down
some terrible algebra
ull unbeknown
left in the cup
great waves torn
Dawn tomorrow
won apocalypse
& sought Wonders
ladder from the sky
aloft red clay
in midnight sun
unfolded banner
Au bateau & tombeau
rim of the world
at depths to plumb
of what’ll become
Mirror Mirror
on wall please tell
yet pace the drum
praise Rimbaud old
Van Gogh beyond crows
Mozart past clef
huzzah ghost crowd
banquet cleared
begin the raptors
bring on clown
and Mr. Highwire
Winter come early
wolves’ chorus
outside the door
howl keyhole
lit confetti
track barren plain
City of Angels
waterfall all round
right on target
ever toward Noose
my very horses
reach the stretch
Not one sparrow
witness my end
hawk winding down
name on the wind
beckon beacon
near rock bottom
Illimitable night
close at hand
voice from a cloud
clasped of asphodel
rise yet Lazarus
clear encrusted earth
whomever come
into the clearing
Null over void
grist starry mill
yr own backyard
cauldron of energies
of Sanctuary no end
hourglass almost empty
bombshell unleash
illuminate Himalaya
playing with fire
no lamp under bushel
say what you will
the Windmill is near
to edge of world
curtain drawn back
Enfold me wherever
night brought pinpoint
cyclone candlelight
arrays the stars
summon fled field
monster after monster
a Voyage fantastic
the very dirt alert
Imperil Utopia
where upon pure leap
power to umpteenth
no won Erewhon
bodies engraved
sweep up the stars
of all but Talisman
great bonfire
watch out the light
Sentinel utmost dark
once and for all
under roll diurnal
route to summit
drowned in labyrinth
eagle aperch pyre
& levitate Leviathan
stirring at core
galaxy revolved
and winding cloths
of design diverse
to All it comes
squall lack of breath
limbs lax no exit
home at last
collect each orb
on Skeleton Coast
goldust horizon
an infinity of sand
come whole circle
in zero gravity
spun remote points
exactly the One
miles from nowhere
Soul’s commotion
battering on wall
blind catafalque
old adversaries
wrestled to earth
in love with Death
abed lit candles
take me to the
lightning struck
in intimate thunder
sun Unthinkable
balance overtaken
slant snug of breath
up comes the floor
doors open to all
do what you must
bright Speckle Fly
caught amber cusp
come cataclysm
nor moment lost
red as an apple
an arrow acrown
buried in Arden
as Anthem forge
psalm of the soul
hammer of heart
mid burning bush
Into ranged breach
the snowy harbinger
footprints upslope
hard to breathe
mountains’ blue divide
nugget cloud prised
casket of song
cast off the Tomb
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