Anatoly Bugorsky/All His Soft Tissues

Meant as an experiment with cut-up poems, and the way burroughs writes prose and punctuates in "the ticket that exploded" and "wild boys". just f*****g around with russian wikipedia articles and stuff

Undersea green eyes, down then up again now a ceiling. the bulb is 

burnt out above that door. Mashallah he is at peace the boys grapple 

red and squinting below yellow cage lights it is 7:30 and misty so that 

my head slaps down on the mat.

And in those days from Cincinnati, when i ground down my teeth on 

grass and chewing straws i saw you, old bull lee, covered in snow, like 

a buffalo, with a styrofoam cup, dumb and hunched, like a buffalo, 

wielding fitz special of spiteful shock, drinking ten coffees in an hour, 

tapping on a table, where you waited for me.

Pant on my shoulder blade to evaporate sweat as i can’t move, the 

glass is starting to pour down red and tear-drop. When we got off the 

plane in Cleveland i saw the Italian flag and nearly died, thought 

we got lost and backwards.

met the synchrotron and he told me endless marrow-drips up my cheekbone 

caught in the proton beam with just one flash of light when it hit the nerve 

a million swollen faces halfway but one insisted no pain, So I saved myself

 in knowledge he is at peace out west, americium in all his soft tissues.

Author's Note

maybe not the best thing for my first ever post, since it's old, basically unfinished, and not something that represents what I usually write, or the writing that I'm proud of. but still, I thought I may as well. I thought about categorizing it as "postmodern" but "nonsense" is probably more accurate. it's just an experiment, which I ended up sort of dropping once I got tired of it. I'm interested to see what people make of it, whether they think it flows or reads well, or they have any idea of how it's supposed to be read, rather than whether people actually like or understand it, which is doubtful. sort of like burroughs, it follows a lot of idiosyncratic images, subjects, and interests, which might not convey well to readers. it's not something that I would write again, honestly.

Reviews

[Amanda C]

Really interesting! I love the image from the get-go, "undersea green eyes" already captivates my attention. I agree with @amomentforus in that there is something in the line of stream-of-consciousness and I think it's put together in a lovely way with some of the repetition "like a buffalo" and rhythm of words. It can get a bit confusing what with moving so quickly from one thought or image to another but I like how that forces us as the reader to move along at the same speed of the writing. It's refreshing, and I haven't read a poem like this before.

[amomentforus]

I really like the stream of consciousness nature of this work, as that is something I also look to explore in my work. I wouldn't get bogged down by the correct label of the poem however, because whoever is meant to read it will always, in the end. Finally, I do agree that the punctuation (or lack there of) could use some shaping up, as it sometimes distracted/inhibited the flow.

[emipoemi]

The only thing I can really critique on is the punctuation. Not sure how Burroughs punctuates in the poems you mentioned - haven't quite checked yet, but I feel if you're going to punctuate, do so properly, or not at all, because it all seems to flow fine and the nonsense imagery appear to have a method to the madness. The only line that seems to be wonky is the first line of the last stanza, because of the lack of punctuation, it's hard to figure out whether the dash is even supposed to be there between marrow and drips given the main verb of the sequence is unclear (or less clear than in any other line). It otherwise has some punchy lines and imagery and enjoyed it overall. Well done!