Selected English Gaps

1. For Smiling and Shaking One's Head
There is no word
to type in response
to a very long joke
with a terrible,
wonderful punch line.


2. For the Realization of Sensual Potential
There is no word
to sing to the world
when the body,
in love, becomes
what it can be.


3. For She Who Is Both Widow and Orphan
There is no word
that fits in the mouth
for the mother
whose children
are gone.





"Starry Cover" by Milo Moyer Battick, 2009. Ballpoint pen on old dictionary page.

tensixteen (sub)

i am
cold, under-u
tilized.

my tongue
tastes of copper:
the under-
side shines
with heavier elements.

the skull in my head
‘s rounder; some-
where there
‘s a green thread
knows why.
the wire night
stretches on
and bed
‘s as yet
unbidden.

all tea
‘s too weak.
kettle
‘s already lied twice.

i’ve thrown stones.
still no word.

so: dissolve the fissures.
so: swallow the spade.



photograph by flickr user Lady Vervaine

Found Verse

The night is full of frogs and brakes
and planes en route to London;
But morning's sounds, when I awake,
will not tell where they come from.

The night is made from motorbikes
and large aircraft descending;
the dry leaves glide in gutters dry
to their own happy ending.

The night left me in ruffled nest
with one tear on my shoulder;
the daylight hours will serve as rest:
at sundown, I grow older.


photograph by Li Hui

In the Beginning

She de-
sired him,
which is to say
removed his father
from the picture.

In her thirst
she overlooked
the clink of highballs
in the cupboards.

His father thundered
in the study. She
shut the double doors.





photograph by Inès ☆