pink litmus paper shirt

[sgt.null]

you can’t say that
Dallas doesn’t love you.
it wasn’t a magic bullet,
it was a traffic stop –
drop and roll. Shriner
car, clown car, a real
Roadmaster. (a joyride.)
eight is the number
of the least of the pit
bosses. see Rumpelstiltskin
stamping on the parapet
towers. his story told,
he spun the gold, he
spun the silk. (looms.)
cotton gin – turn and spin.
Mary Todd Lincoln
never did like trains
and she never counted
the cars as they
passed her by. (caboose.)
time is a bottle passed
around the open campfire.
the common men live
row upon row upon row.
Simple Simon met a
pi-man named 3.14 –
half circle/straight line.

[sgt.null]

magnetic memory of the
cuckoos. a conceptual
pop-art masterpiece…
counter-clockwise, orange
metal tabs. wrapped in
six-four time. hear the
angels sing their dirges/
hymns. their feet don’t
touch the ground. breathe
in mercury; ozone free.
their frequencies are
out of sequence. suicidal
geniuses at Russian roulette.
they border betwixt/between
authority and anarchy…
seismic waves, aesmic quakes.
the masses gather – jabber –
bubble – splinter. we are
agents of order in a
chaotic world. (reverse
osmosis.) a delayed start.
Mary Todd Lincoln
placed the copper pennies
on her dead husband’s
eyes. (the scoffers scoff.)
lemongrass, please keep
off. the new toxic rush.

[sgt.null]

she’s old enough to
know better. a clever
hostage taker. daddy
will clean all this up.
I called stungun – she
rode shotgun – with a
chattergun. hated to
spoil the fun. (money
buys you anything.)
now it is all over –
when Rapunzel let down
her fair share. (square.)
now Telemachus mocks
us for going to the old
county fair/county road.
Telephone Road. (poles.)
Stonewall Jackson missed
the action, campaigns and
burned rubber chicken
dinners. General Pickett
did not miss it at all…
(in the midnight hour?)
Mary Todd Lincoln
knew that the only
way the devil shines;
is with new mirrors…
go upside the downside.

[sgt.null]

daylight savings time
has upset the applecart…
circle rhythms. (theory.)
fall back, fall back.)
a havoc of unwritten
pages. ) count it out –
count it out – recount.
Honest John is a bunker
artist. to find him just
keep your eyes to the
side. hollow, shallow
sans depth. allow for
the fallow, callow fellow.
pinetar janglers and the
hatchet man – tin man –
iron chopper rusted. the
gaffer, the duffer. baffled
by a perpetual motion
machine. set to the
infernal equinox. terminal
stations for Tecumseh on
his long march. mach one
is a low murmur – a low
sputter – an eye flutter…
Mary Todd Lincoln
never could guess the
new subsequent set points.

[sgt.null]

I am counting – I can
not count. Mr. Fear,
Mr. Fear – he let the
fun ones run out…
lights are brighter than
daytime/playtime &
that’s all right with me.
a roundabout/roustabout
as the gadabout counts
it out. (count it out –
count it out – recount.)
osmosis was at the most;
a modern mercury-laced
psychosis. Genghis Khan
fought the sugar wars.
Alexander the Great
made his escape to the
left coast, Holy Ghost.
sons of the 3d glasses
left free passes for
the county fair. (counted.)
Mary Todd Lincoln
never practiced law, she
married a lawyer who
built her a foyer out
of split rail logs and
metallic grey cogs.

[sgt.null]

sunshine, quinine – and
do you have the time?
rewind. Romulus and Uncle
Remus founded Rome but
otherwise remain unknown
at home. King Midas had
a golden touch but he
broke the rule; did not
use the magic word…
he fought with quicksilver,
quacksalvers and general
quackery. the machinists
at Valley Forge prepared
the porridge for good
old General Washington.
and I sing a song that
Abraham taught me. the
father of our nation?
Mary Todd Lincoln
carried a twenty-five
quarried lodestone quartz,
delivered to a princess.
mother ceiling fan rotor
rotating. spins and turns
half circles burning when
I close my eyes. Venus
held tight to the menus.

[sgt.null]

orange safety vest now
belonging to Mr. Booth –
to tell the truth. cold
water ducks bobbing on
the pond. I feed them
sugar packed in packets
stolen from the break-
fast table. a real Tabula
Rasa of imminent portions.
co-axel cables piled in
the corner by a Mister
Jack Horner – a real
swell guy. (29 days.)
Mary Todd Lincoln
never liked the stove
pipe hat. she thought
maybe a derby or a
dead raccoon would suit
him better. so, did
Franklin Pierce use a
package store or walk
to the corner every few
days? did he count out
the copper pennies or
steel slugs? these are
questions that keep me
up every night now…

[sgt.null]

spider monkey sings a
song – spider monkey
wants you to sing along.
Enoch, chalk, bluehawk,
come on baby – let’s
rock…rock…rock…
Peter, Peter drove a
pumpkin seater. two
door – four on the floor.
zero to sixty in the
sixty minutes it will
take to tach weld the
whole fair down. never
knew he was all that
ambitious/ambidextrous.
Mary Todd Lincoln
drew more dour by the
hour – she never did
like the theater. and
she never took one
single Latin lesson. so
it was all Greek to her.
(never did light a fire.)
birds singing in discordant
harmony. now they drop
acorns on the tin roof –
one by one by one…

[sgt.null]

one hundred and one
damnations. a butcher,
a baker, a candlestick
maker – just enough for
a riot. so they tried it.
so one – two – three –
four. five alive and
six months later. iron
maiden, widow maker,
morning glory – what’s
the story? Tom Sawyer
became a lawyer, Huck
Finn a beautician. and
Calaveras is still west
of Paris. a Connecticut
Yankee went on another
shooting spree. (1, 2, 3)
hey riddle, riddle – jack
Sprat played the fiddle –
the fog covered the new
moon – my dog is at the
port & Haystack Calhoun
jumped over the moon.
Mary Todd Lincoln
never bought Lincoln
Logs for her four sons.
(avoid the train stations.)

[sgt.null]

Mrs. O’Leary’s cow
came to town and then
burned it all down. so
they held a sale and
then set sail… & they
traveled the whole wide
world round. peppermint
wheel & an aardwolf. my
socks don’t like shoes.
nobody expects a Danish
inquisition. (surprise!)
Mary Todd Lincoln
became a widow of
opportunity. bake sales
and cake walks held
her union together…
carnival passes & some
free passes. and an early
morning serial instead
of cold cereal. now tune
in the radio and away
we ago. Buck Rogers was
before the web bloggers.
(oh, what a tangled web
we weave.) John Quincy
Adams was no madman.
(they named him a town.)

[sgt.null]

he is the stalwart of
the stalwarts. all his
maps are overturned.
computers, printers, key-
boards and even cell
phones. he collects them
in hopes of connection.
by gosh – Czolgosz was
less a man than an –
idea, cipher, equation.
Mary Todd Lincoln
never sought asylum,
never composed a broken
sonnet. she never even
busked on the subway.
Robert Todd found her
odd, found himself at
odds. even on the road;
she left him cold…
Syd used to play chess
in the park, until
dark. late morning and
the buzzer is buzzing
once again. a four step
drop proves useless…
I left my radio chatter
filter off once again…

[sgt.null]

Mary Todd Lincoln
never drove a town
car – she settled for a
sedan with an open top.
Lee Harvey hated his
job (you can book that.)
he felt robbed – all
bolts come down from
a median range. up-
side down – facing out.
Custer was literally
the last man on this
Earth. (don’t that just
figure?) he could or
should have bought or
brought a map. control
valve, main drain. cow-
birds in search of the
lost herd/last herd.
old St. Tesla making
his Christmas rounds.
up on a rooftop. slate
or ledge – straight drop.
a cornerstone or a
memorial plaque – it
could be another plague.
(lost some time ago.)

[sgt.null]

Grunter Stinkbottom is
an awesome possum
killer, but now he sure
could use a good nap.
Old Mother Hubbard
abandoned her cupboard,
worked for the laundry
somewhere near a pantry,
left for Michigan so
she could begin again..
(it cost her a stamp.)
Mary Todd Lincoln
thought to believe in
sedition. she had trouble
enough with her long
division. she was some-
where off map. General
Custer could not muster
his men to decamp…
it all ties together, so
pay attention or you
may face new detention.
an almanac hidden in
the old library stacks.
it is for reference so
gauge the circumference
or face the racks. (hack.)

[sgt.null]

Mary Todd Lincoln
needed catharsis but
settled only for her
paralysis. a perpetual
motion machine stuck
on neutral. (the third
rail?) Jack and Jill
had their fill – they
moved to a house on
the water. they took
their lumps – it took
nine months, but now
Jack is a new father.
(they drank deep from
the gravity wells.)
Mary, Mary reactionary
how does your power
grow? warning bells &
fainting spells, foreign
aid – all in your control.
little Whig, little Whig
- will you vote for Mr.
Jefferson? so I am now
stuck in traffic, stuck
in second gear. (let us
take a second here.)
she is so beautiful…

[sgt.null]

celebrate the memory
- myth of Camelot!
swineherds see things
from a safe distance.
(cross that bridge…)
four score or four
more? united/divide.
Mary Todd Lincoln –
never was a dowser,
much more a dowager.
passes a spendthrift
on her drift. Little Bo
Peep never really felt
complete without her
flock to wish her well
at the wishing well…
so gather at the river,
gather at the cenotaph.
…we found Old King
Cole would sell his very
soul for more power…
Captain Lemon in the
dark sets a spark that
trumps the trumpeters
as Mood Indigo spins.
lobster tail feathers
or soft shoe races?

[sgt.null]

Mesmer, had rhythm,
the Donners had their
reservations. Gagarin
was terminal. Kafka
was an optimist…
Hannah Dustin had
her reasons… and
Kemmler was shocked.
Mary Todd Lincoln
never collected clocks.
she hated reminders –
consider her blinders.
she favored black,
not blue or grey –
she never celebrated
President’s Day…
Pecos Bill never was
fenced in. (cyclone?)
his whirligig was set
at stop-motion. (count.)
widow-Maker was
an iron maiden, had
her heart set and cast
as iron. but Bill did
love her on the full
moon. you can set
tides to that. (low/high.)

[sgt.null]

Doc Six never took a
holiday – grindstone,
cornerstone, a real
company man. (you
keep, you speed, you
dream.) box cars!
Mary Todd Lincoln
in the basement…
she leans, the Boston
common, a long haul.
bunker down, a real
artist. how do you
take your tea? rocks
and flowers. a coil,
a spark, a whisper in
the dark? John Adams
was the fundamental
man. not a brewer or
a silversmith. did not
go riding in the darkest
night. he was never a
mason. brick by brick.
Crispus Attucks needs
a day, a date, he has
had to wait. (too late?)
a shot, a shot put us
on all of the maps…

[sgt.null]

if you go - do not
be slow – Samuel
Gompers worried
about his chompers.
paging Dr. Howard,
paging Dr. Fine…
remarkable restlessness
combined with (a)
slight dizziness. (that
might continue to stop.)
Harry Houdini had
trouble sorting through
these clues. so Moe
Berg would give him
the word? (catharsis?)
Mary Todd Lincoln
hit the (open) road,
would not do as she
was told. so she got
her a rail pass (and)
light trespass and the
twin saws buzzing…
it is all over way too
soon. /he was a good
friend of mine/ so we
draw the line (time.)
and mark our time…

[deer of the dawn]

Vintage Sarge. Love it!! When did you move from Dada to Beat??

[sgt.null]

Vintage Sarge. Love it!! When did you move from Dada to Beat??

thank you! this one is full of references. if anyone is interested I can do annotations.