Taller+than+a+Flying+Bullet

Taller than a flying bullet

Taller than a flying bullet

Copyright © Jack Galmitz

Impress 2015

New York, New York

Taller than a flying bullet

Jack Galmitz

leaf

the sun

leaf

the sun

leaf

the sun

except here on

the stiff back

the sharp back

the stone back

however set

of the jetty

spitting sea

Sixtieth Anniversary

of the People's Republic

soldiers marching

soldiers marching

soldiers marching

in perfect formation

a sea of red

of white

in Beijing

Boiling tar

poured over gravel

raked in place

by men in yellow

rubber

then the roller

the giant roller

comes forward

goes over

goes over

goes over

the future

arrived

the future

arrived

the future

arrived

with

a

bride

& groom

& their screaming

entourage

in a huge

limousine

with liquor

cabinets

this time

this time

deserves

a dirge

a dirge

for the dying

for the dead

flung in

unmarked graves

everywhere

everywhere

& for those

who would add

their stack

for the prestige

attached

branch shadows

flickering

branch shadows

flickering

on the walls

on all the walls

is how I want

to be found

the morning

I'm gone

ask

ad reinhardt

ask

ad reinhardt

ask

ad reinhardt

what is painting

what is black

a boy crying

cause he's lost

a boy crying

cause he wanted popcorn

pipers rushing

to the shore

looking for mole crabs

who've left only their holes

seagulls skirting

the shallows

for something to eat

crying cause there's nothing

there at all

but empty shells

of once living things

listen

to the locust

pods

rattle

hear

the locust

pods

rattle

listen

to the locust

pods

rattle

they're a percussive

movement

for men

& wind

the mountain

for viewing

the mountain

for hiking

the mountain

for looking

on the valley below

the mountain

for stream beds

the mountain

for tadpoles

the mountain

for bear dens

the mountain

for ant trails

the mountain

in the sky

of unobstructed blue

blue

yellow

red

yellow

blue

red

a black

grid

to support

the luminance

& the distances

there's no mystery

what is unknown

she sits in the grass

in a white dress

wearing a crown

of marigolds

emilia

her eyes glare

like fire on a picket fence

& in their sight

you'll have no defense

as she looks within

she looks without

on the wild world

she creates & paints

oh, how her arm

meets her neck

& her hair flows

like her black paint

ladder & whirlwind

a total collapse

I feel like a unicorn

with my head

in her lap

you are

the first woman

free & dark

in a dark sky

windswept & sharp

& you have a halo

around your head

even in those small icons

of yourself