Randomness

Upon scouring the local library for shreds of non vomit-inducing poetry, I happened upon the work of Paul Pines, a fellow New Yorker and current resident of the town where I live (Glens Falls). His poetry stands out for me because of the experimental form, and the way in which he writes (alluding to Apollinaire and Leonardo--among others). As well as, obviously, the geographic connection and his reference to local places. Here are a couple of his poems.

Christmas in Glens Falls

at the Unitarian Universalist Church
a man in a Rudolph hat
complete with electric nose,
welcomes us

the Children's Choir
is followed by an elder whistling
"What Child is This?"

to remind us
ofthe child reborn in
each of us

while
uptown
among the Methodists
a transsexual tenor
in full drag
announces she
will no longer answer
to the name
of Robert


A Stone Buddha from Da Nang

A Stone Buddha from Da Nang
sits on my TV
I bought him on the promenade
after eating sweet and sour
dog-meat in the shadow
of the New Guinea Trader
orange stacks
tied up at the quay
behind venereal short-time
shacks vibrating with Marines...

I balance him in the palm
of one hand
and prepare to read THE LITERARY MIND
AND THE CARVING OF DRAGONS

Nietzsche wrote from the madhouse in Jenna
he'd learned more from lust than literature
but the lasting sound
of untreatable clap
is all I got from Mimi