09 Mar Excerpts from PORCHES by Andrew Rippeon
*
jelly-throated with no ship as
supports by warble-clot; those silent
birds upon lines their eyes upon
the loves of my life—at
the end of whose line I
now lie, hanging—black-mouth song
courses through the natural gates and
alleys of a body pocked and
stopped with warble-thought; thin jelly
left where once was quick worm
in the throat bird on the
line little boy left in the
forest on the shore—alone—dancing
*
what quiet shore so heaped
with sighs upon the sand
at water’s edge; there salt
as mine, and wet as
well, as from all bodies
pours—as we often see
against some storm—now fire
pours, with it silence, then
windless speech pours at once
from soles to opened mouth
*
that man a writhing
child pitched on black-songs’
porch: nor hot rock
nor strings taut between
these small fingers sing
as birds drawn by
lines over seas; that
song’s throatless mouth through
skin—worm in the
throat’s hungerless song—sing
About the Poet
Andrew Rippeon is a professor of English and Writing at Davidson College. He is a poet, critic, and printer, and has published criticism on poetics and emergent media, as well as the first scholarly collection of Larry Eigner’s correspondence. His poetry includes the collection Priest (Punch Press, 2014) and the artist’s book Porches (Delete Press, 2015). Recent artist’s books of his own design include his collaboration with photographer Rob Knight, Every Mosque Between JFK and Syracuse, N.Y., selections from Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad, and Eucalypt, featuring text by poet Craig Dworkin.
He received his PhD in literature from the University at Buffalo, where from 2007-2011 he edited P-Queue and founded QUEUE Books.
Related Event
- Andrew Rippeon will give a University at Buffalo Poetics Program talk titled “Print in Practice| Practice in Print” from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, March 14th at the University at Buffalo Poetry Collection, 420 Capen Hall at the UB North Campus. The event is free and open to the public.
The Poem of the Week feature is curated by literary legacy awardee R.D. Pohl.