(for Jerry Rothenberg)
a prelude of questions (to be sung as a chant)
will the poem of the dream
of the book of the housebe such a very long poem?
other poems like these
have beensuch very long poems
will the poem of the dream
of the wilderness of fire & clay
outside the book of the house
abide within the poem
of the dream
of the book of the house?
other poems like these
have found themselves
within such long poems as those
will the poem of the dream
of the book of the house
seek the magic & meaning
of the secret names
languages
& images
of god?
other poems of other dreams
of other books
of other houses
such as these
have sought the magic & meaning
of the secret names
languages & images of god
will the unremembered rooms
of the book of the house
remain passed over in silence
or receive rites of mourning
here in the poem of the dream
of the book of the house?
other rooms like these
have been passed over in silence
many other forgotten
& disremembered rooms
have yet to be mourned
will the priests & judges
of the poem of the dream
of the book of the house
burn or bury
the book of the poem
of the dream of the book of the house?
other priests & judges
of other poems such as this
have burned or buried other such books
will the translators
& interpreters of the poem
of the dream of the book of the house
betray the mysteries
of the book
of the poem
of the dream
of the book
of the house?
other translators & interpreters
of other poems
such as this
have betrayed the mysteries
of other such books
will the tourists of the dream
of the book of the house
disregard the poem
of the dream
of the book of the house?
other tourists like these
have disregarded
ignored or abandoned
many other poems
such as this
will the poem of the dream
of the book of the house
remain imprisoned
w/in the language of commodity
exploitation & exchange?
other poems
of other dreams
of other books
of other houses
such as these
have remained
imprisonedwithin the language
of commodity
exploitation
& exchange
.......
thirty four final questions addressed to the Book of the House, its readers, & its poets
will the thunder of galloping horses resound in the sky over the poem of the dream of the book of the house... will the sound of such horses lift us over & beyond the margins & limits of the above... will it spill & swirl like the dervish dance of the ecstatic seekers of the immanence of god... hiss & bray while beating its wings against the dark... crash across the surface of the roaring waves... curl into the vortex... echo within the orange breaking of dawn... resound within the purple setting of sun... pour its sweat as replenishing rain over the nakedness for which we will no longer feel fear or shame... will this great dream-vision of horses tear an immense opening in the heavens... will the red horses run this way & the black horses run that... will the white horses turn in circles & the horses with hair of yellow corn refurrow the earth against every being & thing which is no longer wild?
...we do not know this, but we believe, hope, & pray that it
will be so...
& will the smoke which ascends to the heavens when we have put fire to the book of the house please the nostrils of god... this fire inside the poem of the dream of the book of the house... will the cry of the life-giver rise from the ashes of the burnt book... hey yah hey yah hey hey yeh heh yah... will sun & moon join hands in embrace & dance in circle around this bonfire of singing flame... will wolf howl amidst the laughter of coyote & coyote yelp amidst the baying of wolf when each perceives the brightening of sky above the burning of the book... will flames arise from such a fire such flames as never before imagined... will fires burn upon the clouds... will flames arise upon the waves & break themselves singing across the shore... will the nostrils of galloping horses & wonderstags snort & chortle with branches of flame... will the poem of the dream of the book of the house fire chant in the glory of its own demise... will the grapes grow riper, deeper, & darker upon the vine... will the creator & the teacher reveal the threads of the vastness to all... will we see & hear with new eyes & ears cleansed by the fire of such a flame... will we sense & feel with new bones, muscle, & flesh bathed in the smoke & ash of such a flame?
...we do not know this, but we believe, hope, & pray that it
will be so...
& will the poem of the dream of the book of the house survive the condemnation of the tens of thousands of voices which have sought its demise... & will the poem of the dream of the book of the house survive the endless repetitions of those memories of the violations against its will... & will the poem of the dream of the book of the house survive the distance between memory & tremble... & will the poem of the dream of the book of the house survive the uncertainty of doubt surrounding the scream of the impossible to imagine or bear... & will the poem of the dream of the book of the house survive the ecstasy of the persistence of god... & will the poem of the dream of the book of the house survive the trial of the ostracism by stone... & will the poem of the dream of the book of the house survive the abjection of destitution & poverty... & will the poem of the dream of the book of the house survive its own memories, itself... & will the poem of the dream of the book of the house survive the fury of those horses sent to ensure the very possibility of its own survival... & will the poem of the dream of the book of the house survive the possibility of survival itself?
...we do not know this, but we believe, hope, & pray that it
will be so...
[NOTE. Previous postings from Bruce Stater appear here & here & here on Poems and Poetics. Additional work on the internet includes his e-book collection Labyrinth of Vision from Ahadada Books and the complete PDF text of Outside the House & many other works on his web sites Old & New Musics for Prehistoric &/or Postindustrial Dreams and An Incantation of Dreams.]
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