KING&QUEEN
KING&QUEEN
KING&QUEEN
KING&QUEEN
Todd Melicker daily wanders the streets of Petaluma, Ca, gathering data as a GPS technician. He would like to thank the editors of the following journals where some of these poems first appeared, Bateau, Chicago Quarterly Review, New American Writing, and Parthenon West Review. This little red leaves textile series chapbook was lovingly sewn by Dawn Pendergast using recycled and remnant fabrics. little red leaves textile editions www.littleredleaves.com
LRL
2nd Printing Š Todd Melicker 2012
Todd Melicker daily wanders the streets of Petaluma, Ca, gathering data as a GPS technician. He would like to thank the editors of the following journals where some of these poems first appeared, Bateau, Chicago Quarterly Review, New American Writing, and Parthenon West Review. This little red leaves textile series chapbook was lovingly sewn by Dawn Pendergast using recycled and remnant fabrics.
little red leaves textile editions www.littleredleaves.com
LRL
2nd Printing Š Todd Melicker 2012
King &Queen Todd Melicker
Todd Melicker
King &Queen King &Queen Todd Melicker
Todd Melicker
King &Queen
queen she has, of course, the bird-hands a knee, a perpetual sound of sun to foresee landscape & love curtains close over slopes in, sculpts with the thought of having the back hollow, the wait a hawk falls tremendously
17
vi
on the shoulders, first on his wrist the socks are removed & then an only crown: the watch the need for feet at his side wearily
king queen she has, of course, the bird-hands a knee, a perpetual sound of sun to foresee landscape & love curtains close over slopes in, sculpts with the thought of having the back hollow, the wait a hawk falls tremendously
17
vi
on the shoulders, first on his wrist the socks are removed & then an only crown: the watch the need for feet at his side wearily
king
king the entrance circled about provides radiance, the sad song of the nuclei
at the chest-bridge, the coming & goings
home is a circle, as her inability to resist radii
of the adults, sex-built like
nestle, sewn groves, the door in the word
bird-house, again his arms gone missing
16
unformed, warmth in the accumulation of
vii
when buttoning on the body. what with wings
an atom itself is a pair: formed
bowed low against a low roofed crèche, knocking
loneliness, habitat of the hands
his knee on the table, barely her timorous his
her face for the prevention of
queen king the entrance circled about provides radiance, the sad song of the nuclei
at the chest-bridge, the coming & goings
home is a circle, as her inability to resist radii
of the adults, sex-built like
nestle, sewn groves, the door in the word
bird-house, again his arms gone missing
unformed, warmth in the accumulation of
when buttoning on the body. what with wings
an atom itself is a pair: formed
bowed low against a low roofed crèche, knocking
loneliness, habitat of the hands
his knee on the table, barely her timorous his
16
her face for the prevention of
queen
vii
queen her contrary garden, the way every sum has two makers
lost, by now all loss—
every line needs direction
the cells succumb with gravity to
none so necessary as the virgule
her calf, taught as decision & with
15
to defend why a 6 shelters in a 9
viii
the watering of the grass on the dais
division with the subject, unable
she goes barefoot among flowering
face out, the cut paper of divinity
cerebellum, her strained posture as sundial
holds rapt with the hand,
king queen her contrary garden, the way every sum has two makers
lost, by now all loss—
every line needs direction
the cells succumb with gravity to
none so necessary as the virgule
her calf, taught as decision & with
to defend why a 6 shelters in a 9
the watering of the grass on the dais
division with the subject, unable
she goes barefoot among flowering
face out, the cut paper of divinity
cerebellum, her strained posture as sundial
15
holds rapt with the hand,
king
viii
king after wildness why he darts, diamonds dark
can return to her
lit, red suitable
measurement making
herself home, window
a divulgence with her hands
14
crumb trail to find
ix
the quizzical a caught look
the scraps to herself
to reanimal without
handsome, pulling
remove, her patience could
intimate violence, wring
queen king after wildness why he darts, diamonds dark
can return to her
lit, red suitable
measurement making
herself home, window
a divulgence with her hands
crumb trail to find
the quizzical a caught look
the scraps to herself
to reanimal without
handsome, pulling
remove, her patience could
14
intimate violence, wring
queen
ix
queen her guilty neck, litmus red, his gentle lapse
the lean, her expectation
hands blackening on her
alkaline, the blue shattered
a mineral exchange his
clothes of test flight, kiss
13
in touch, in holy other
x
of the continuous, panes,
human form his shame
as sewn, strewn, an arrival
upon while sleeping in
with limes, with coefficients
colored on swan, called
king queen her guilty neck, litmus red, his gentle lapse
the lean, her expectation
hands blackening on her
alkaline, the blue shattered
a mineral exchange his
clothes of test flight, kiss
in touch, in holy other
of the continuous, panes,
human form his shame
as sewn, strewn, an arrival
upon while sleeping in
with limes, with coefficients
13
colored on swan, called
king
x
queen her memory obliges the semi-permanent when she replies my will undone
membrane, durable cotton dress, her lap of hatchlings
leaving, crown of twigs, a uniform pyre
etcetera falls from sporing
a single transaction: drink this. eat this. crown of
kingdoms, comes across their park bench, pinks thru
patina, the reduction to water &
12
xi
her crown of curls, crown of
lap of farther, his remaining pair of shoes
laurel when he stands to proclaim in heaven
she carries his description, his
there is not longing turning neither to the left or right
wound in cerement, his arms in the famous x
king queen her memory obliges the semi-permanent when she replies my will undone
membrane, durable cotton dress, her lap of hatchlings
leaving, crown of twigs, a uniform pyre
etcetera falls from sporing
a single transaction: drink this. eat this. crown of
kingdoms, comes across their park bench, pinks thru
patina, the reduction to water &
12
xi
her crown of curls, crown of
lap of farther, his remaining pair of shoes
laurel when he stands to proclaim in heaven
she carries his description, his
there is not longing turning neither to the left or right
wound in cerement, his arms in the famous x
king
queen her role in repair, the ties the necessity to assemble from a question
that gird his limbs back into
circulation, elbow subtlety, that is
place, an epoxy love, for use on ceramics,
around one leg, this don’t forget, a fragile
wood, vinyl, most plastics, an assortment of
11
& the absence of swans. his crown tied
xii
nomenclature, his vegetal return while she
the heredity from comparative specimens, diminutive
applies steady pressure to the dislocated shoulder
learns the results of its adult form
an assurance of absence, interlocked wainscoting
uncertainly he is sure of his body
king queen her role in repair, the ties the necessity to assemble from a question
that gird his limbs back into
circulation, elbow subtlety, that is
place, an epoxy love, for use on ceramics,
around one leg, this don’t forget, a fragile
wood, vinyl, most plastics, an assortment of
& the absence of swans. his crown tied
nomenclature, his vegetal return while she
the heredity from comparative specimens, diminutive
applies steady pressure to the dislocated shoulder
learns the results of its adult form
an assurance of absence, interlocked wainscoting
11
uncertainly he is sure of his body
king
xii
king he has the bird-head, balance hemoglobin makes the blue jeans blue
the solicitous necks, the human figure, the war
formed with the cinching of their necks
to confer the sunrise, second
expires into swans, a bracelet
eyelid flicker hides its button hole,
10
white on walk, where the swarm
xiii
a suit, burden of the right hand for the left, so
lifestyle in its shoulder-sling
was the mark just behind the ear
sweaters never fit, bilateral
identifies, his name makes an hour
she has the remaining wing
queen king he has the bird-head, balance hemoglobin makes the blue jeans blue
the solicitous necks, the human figure, the war
formed with the cinching of their necks
to confer the sunrise, second
expires into swans, a bracelet
eyelid flicker hides its button hole,
white on walk, where the swarm
a suit, burden of the right hand for the left, so
lifestyle in its shoulder-sling
was the mark just behind the ear
sweaters never fit, bilateral
identifies, his name makes an hour
10
she has the remaining wing
queen
xiii
king clocks pick at the corpses, his all life, lifelike in a glass display case
six swans returned all but their faces
unfurl, diminished to a curl of
crowd around a corrugated hearth then
she alights & lights, like to
the hawk, an ancestry of soliloquy & conflict
cost. the appearances of choice
9
xiv
horuses the sun, honor is a pair of bare
wings. there are no folktales without
hands, feet an invention where
returned & she trades her head for her
flesh gives & crooks & would be
her hand is found & is not
queen king clocks pick at the corpses, his all life, lifelike in a glass display case
six swans returned all but their faces
unfurl, diminished to a curl of
crowd around a corrugated hearth then
she alights & lights, like to
the hawk, an ancestry of soliloquy & conflict
cost. the appearances of choice
9
xiv
horuses the sun, honor is a pair of bare
wings. there are no folktales without
hands, feet an invention where
returned & she trades her head for her
flesh gives & crooks & would be
her hand is found & is not
queen
queen she writes on him with chalk, so rely more on air
to possess, as it is decreed
reduce the work of the hands
it is well, it is well with my
apostrophes, salvationary & quick—
he is a blackboard, & adjudicated
age, the animals all his
8
xv
sold, then gold & parted her imply
after the wax, the bronze
to curtsy, determines the genus
then life, then thought, then
clarifies the smudge on her glasses
his succession of afters
king queen she writes on him with chalk, so rely more on air
to possess, as it is decreed
reduce the work of the hands
it is well, it is well with my
apostrophes, salvationary & quick—
he is a blackboard, & adjudicated
age, the animals all his
8
xv
sold, then gold & parted her imply
after the wax, the bronze
to curtsy, determines the genus
then life, then thought, then
clarifies the smudge on her glasses
his succession of afters
king
queen her crown but a cup of scale. shivers. he takes care
of her hands. the divine
tandem living, fascia
weathering profit just above the ankle
spoken softly with a hand to place
heaven stretching height from the neck &
7
renewal through furniture legs &
xvi
arms. the embrace of gentility studied
back, the wishbone assembly
the affected faces on the playing cards (her
listening, arc of an allowed
previous life as a cello)
his incline suggests his
king queen her crown but a cup of scale. shivers. he takes care
of her hands. the divine
tandem living, fascia
weathering profit just above the ankle
spoken softly with a hand to place
heaven stretching height from the neck &
renewal through furniture legs &
arms. the embrace of gentility studied
back, the wishbone assembly
the affected faces on the playing cards (her
listening, arc of an allowed
previous life as a cello)
7
his incline suggests his
king
xvi
king certainly the perfected failure life thru a door
of his song, thin
life on a hinge, she says
housing of the tongue, hymn
what’s this wing for
gleaning from, gleanings perhaps
6
xvii
she says, a pair to ferry, then
he collects, then settles in
there was only one & more
a matchbox of notes, sins
on a bird instead of an arm
queen king certainly the perfected failure life thru a door
of his song, thin
life on a hinge, she says
housing of the tongue, hymn
what’s this wing for
gleaning from, gleanings perhaps
she says, a pair to ferry, then
he collects, then settles in
there was only one & more
a matchbox of notes, sins
6
on a bird instead of an arm
queen
xvii
king when you come into the wire of birds
your kingdom, he says, remember
a bell without a clasp
the economy of ivy
promises to leap then
a series of drawn spades there
washed up on the whirl
5
xviii
will be & she & an hour
he into clover, the sun
cephalous & paradisal the clouds
she grew into him, &
climb corporately, precisely
she prays thee, given time
queen king when you come into the wire of birds
your kingdom, he says, remember
a bell without a clasp
the economy of ivy
promises to leap then
a series of drawn spades there
washed up on the whirl
5
xviii
will be & she & an hour
he into clover, the sun
cephalous & paradisal the clouds
she grew into him, &
climb corporately, precisely
she prays thee, given time
queen
queen she plays the quotient buds sprout from his knuckles
cleans the flowers from her nails
bardment. he stretches toward &
molts hundredness, attains
an atom continues its bomb
the study of the meniscus
4
& bends lillied truth
xix
of the thumb. that the beak is used
a bird too much
for sewing, leads to her
tree: the weight of
disregard of clothes, numbers—
his hesitation a lyric
king queen she plays the quotient buds sprout from his knuckles
cleans the flowers from her nails
bardment. he stretches toward &
molts hundredness, attains
an atom continues its bomb
the study of the meniscus
& bends lillied truth
of the thumb. that the beak is used
a bird too much
for sewing, leads to her
tree: the weight of
disregard of clothes, numbers—
4
his hesitation a lyric
king
xix
King &Queen Todd Melicker
Todd Melicker
King &Queen King &Queen Todd Melicker
Todd Melicker
King &Queen
Todd Melicker daily wanders the streets of Petaluma, Ca, gathering data as a GPS technician. He would like to thank the editors of the following journals where some of these poems first appeared, Bateau, Chicago Quarterly Review, New American Writing, and Parthenon West Review. This little red leaves textile series chapbook was lovingly sewn by Dawn Pendergast using recycled and remnant fabrics.
little red leaves textile editions www.littleredleaves.com
LRL
2nd Printing Š Todd Melicker 2012
Todd Melicker daily wanders the streets of Petaluma, Ca, gathering data as a GPS technician. He would like to thank the editors of the following journals where some of these poems first appeared, Bateau, Chicago Quarterly Review, New American Writing, and Parthenon West Review. This little red leaves textile series chapbook was lovingly sewn by Dawn Pendergast using recycled and remnant fabrics.
little red leaves textile editions www.littleredleaves.com
LRL
2nd Printing Š Todd Melicker 2012
KING&QUEEN
KING&QUEEN
KING&QUEEN
KING&QUEEN