A Slow Curve

poetry - $8.00

A

W i th th e p u l s e o f Ne w Yo r k C i t y a n d th e d e p th o f c h o k i ng o i l d r i l l s i n Te x a s , A S l o w Cur v e d i g s a t , a n d q u i v er s w i th , th e s ent en c e a n d i t s p o t enti a l i t y. Tr av el i ng cr o ss c o untr y a n d i nt o th e n a ke d wo r d s o f c l o s e a n d h o n e s t r e l a ti o ns h i p s , B a r b a r a Henn i ng ’s l a ng u a g e o p ens o ur e y e s t o w h a t we a l wa y s s e e b ut n e v er p er c ei v e . Ac c o mp a n i e d w i th th e p hy s i c a l a n d p r o v o k i ng a r t wo r k o f L aur i e Pr i c e , th i s c o l l e c ti o n i s l i ke n o o th er.

Slow Curve

ISBN-10 098517056-5 ISBN-13 9780985170561 50800

9

780985 170561

monkeypuzzlepress.com

Barbara Henning

A

Slow Curve

Barbara Henning

Monkey Puzzle Press Denver, Colorado

copyright © 2012 Barbara Henning all rights reserved. no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief excerpts. printed in the united states of america. interior and cover design: Jordan Antonucci interior and cover art: Laurie Price

A Sl ow Cu r ve Acknowledgements and Process: I drove out west in the winter of 2011. Twice I passed through the oil fields in Texas, once at dusk and once at noon. Later that summer I taught at Naropa and while I was there, I read Bobbie Louise Hawkins’ book One Small Saga, a story of her life with her first husband. In this novel, she is traveling, in my poem I’m traveling, both of us are moving through love and space. I designed a process of extracting phrases and words from One Small Saga, and then quilting these floating words and phrases into A Slow Curve.Quale Press is publishing A Swift Passage in 2013, and A Slow Curve will be included.

ISBN-10: 0985170565 ISBN-13: 9780985170561

monkey puzzle press 1548 krameria st. denver, colorado 80220 monkeypuzzlepress.com

For Bobbie Louise Hawkins

Ta b l e

of

Contents

If You Walk Faster, It Strolls Faster

1

The Center of Christian Think Radio To Be Reckoned With

2

3

Or Lightening or Hail or Something And He Was Taken into the Story Ther Back of the Front

4 5

7

The Philidelphia Eagles Fall to the Dallas Cowboys There Was That

9

Visual Transmission

10

Only Then Will Success Be Possible

12

For About Ten Minutes, the House Is Rattling The Sloping Petals of an Iris Blossim If You’dda Talked To Me

15

16

Seattle to Eugene to Portland

17

Women, Naked Light Bulbs and Linoleum

18

13

8

There Are Some Benefits

20

We’ll Come, Omnipotnece

21

It Gets This Way, I Think

22

Coming Down Down Down

24

I’ll Put Them All in a Story By and By What Mattered Was the Entirety As If to Conclude an Inch Yes I’d Like a Soft Chair

28

33

29

30

The Flowers Gust Into The Wind At Montauk

26

27

As If We Have Finally Arrived When It Starts Pouring

25

32

A Slow Cur ve

I f Yo u Wa l k F a s t e r , I t S t r o l l s F a s t e r

Just b e yourself, says a woman on the rad i o wh i l e I ’m f o l l owing a b ig g re y tr uck p erhap s f u l l of p erf um e with a s e x y woman p a inte d on the b a ck do or. Inti m a c y i n e v e n the sl i ghtest stripping. She’s wearing a p in k bra an d a f urr y p in k shawl and her l ips are op en a s i f s h e c o u ld suck you into her mouth and wrap y o u up in h er p in k f ur. We we nt ove r the fall s in a mi n dl es s r ush .

Al ong the ro ad side, ta l l th in tre es with n o l e ave s , l o o king ver y brown and p arche d , but a lso f eath er y an d d e l icate .

1

Barbara Henning

The Center

of

Christian Think Radio

We re c yc l e p la sti cs . I ’m for that. D on’t y ou a g re e Che d ?

Alri ght. I g uess. I ’m for re c ycl ing any th ing . I d on’t want to b e a c cuse d of b eing hosti le to the un iverse. S o sure I ta ke my p la sti c m i l k jug s out to th e curb. It on ly ma kes sens e from a c onser vative p o int o f vi e w. D on’t you a g re e Che d ? His p ar tner is skep ti ca l bre a k a f a l l a b e l l y f l op We’ ll talk about th is in just a mi n ute Ji m .

Che d’s n e xt top i c : Why d o y ou th ink Presi d e nt O bam a d on’t make that birth ce rtificate publ i c ?

2

A Slow Cur ve

To B e R e c k o n e d W i t h

R e d wing e d b lack b irds are f a l l ing from th e s ky, d e a d , th o usan ds de ad . I thoug ht may b e the y were sucke d into a thun der storm, the man says on the rad io, b ut I wa s wrong . There wa s an e ye wi tness in B e eb e Cit y an d h e sa id there were b lack b irds p erche d in tre e s in b i g numb ers . The y can’t se e wel l at n ig ht so th e y c o u l d n’t have f l own into a storm . Af ter the cannon went of f a f e w times, my friend went outside and h e c o u l d h e ar th e soun ds o f wing s flying low, flying into tre es . Th is wa s just b efore m idn ig ht on Ne w Years Eve . May b e i t wa s the fire work s . Or l ig hten ing or ha il or s om e th ing .

Por poi ses l owe r the ir voices to the rang e of thei r c aptors.

Bla c k b irds f a l l ing from the sky, a western sky, b lue wi th b ig sp la shes of wh ite, the weather just warm en o ug h to op en the window.

3

Barbara Henning

Or Lightening

or

Hail

or

Something

A man an d woman are stand ing b es id e th eir car, a wre ck , duck tap e and card b o ard c o vering th e s i d e win dows . Across the g a s i sland , the man tel ls me th e y ne e d mone y to g et to El Pa so. She’s pre g nant an d h e av y.

S ome mother to tel l . Can you help ? It ’s star ting to g e t dark . I g ive them $5.00. There i s th e strong smel l of o il in the a ir. The stars that were so vi vi d n o t l ong a g o are now h idden b eh ind a th ick m ist o f dust .

4

A Slow Cur ve

A n d H e Wa s Ta k e n

into the

St o r y

On the way b ac k from a rest stop , a b i g o ld g uy m oves to the side so I can p a ss—I mean he m ig ht b e my a g e , b ut he’s in terrib le shap e, b ig stomach, s c owl ing , an d h e lo o k s at me with a lo o k that a lways s care s m e , th e way, for some rea son, some roug h re dne ck m en l o o k at m e , when I ’m just p a ssing throug h their sp ac e, with a c omb ination of desire and hatre d , a s if th e y ’d l i ke to f orc e me to have sex and then sho ot me L ooki ng back w ith he r l ittl e e y es the moon wa s a d e finite an d v iv i d c res ce nt. It’s g o o d to g et in the car and drive away.

5

Science

A Slow Cur ve

The Back

of the

Fr o n t

On c e when Mo o k and I were h iking in Dharma s a la , h e br ushe d a g a inst a p lant and h is an kle instantl y s we l l e d up. A fe w m inutes later, a travel g u ide happ en e d by. He lo o ke d at Mo o k’s an kle, p icke d some leaves from another p lant and r ub b e d them into h is skin . Mira c u l o us l y, th e i tc h ing stopp e d . There’s a lways an antido te n e ar by, h e s a i d , an d then he d i sapp eare d around the b en d with h is entoura g e. There’s a yo g a sutra —when yo u are stre ss e d or fixe d on a ne g ative thoug ht, th in k th e opp o s i te .

It ’s a lways nearby, one thoug ht next to an o th er, an d i t h elps to se e more clearly. Throug h the dust an d th e g lare from the setting sun, a sig n for Mid lan d C o l l e g e .

I p ut my m ind else where, adjac ent. Crawl ing a l ong on th e ser vic e drive, I can’t se e more than a f e w f e e t , just f o l l owing the car in front of me and then , o ops, b ack on the h ig hway a g a in, the sun sin king with o il f ield s a l l around .

7

Barbara Henning

Photo by Martine Bellen

Barbara Henning is the author of seven collections of poetry and three novels. Her most recent books are a collection of poetry and prose, Cities and Memory (Chax Press); a novel, Thirty Miles to Rosebud (BlazeVox); a collection of object-sonnets, My Autobiography (United Artists); and a book of interviews, Looking Up Harryette Mullen (Belladonna). Forthcoming is A Swift Passage from Quale Press. Barbara grew up in Detroit and has lived in New York City since 1983. She teaches for writers.com, as well as Naropa University and Long Island University in Brooklyn, where she is Professor Emerita.

Featured Artist:

Laurie Price Laurie Price has been creating visual work and writing for a few decades. The featured works are from a series titled Inside Out / De Dentro Hacia Fuera. These assemblage boxes are completely made from recycled materials and ideas. Ongoing visual work/photos can be seen here: graciouseconomiesandcorrugatedshadows. blogspot.com. She has a new book of poetry forthcoming from Lunar Chandelier Press (in Brooklyn, NY), entitled Radio at Night.

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poetry - $8.00

A

Slow Curve

ISBN-10 098517056-5 ISBN-13 9780985170561 50800

9

780985 170561

monkeypuzzlepress.com

Barbara Henning