THE SIX GATES

John M. Bennett

Tight

meat flap     the long craw
dust lens     or the stop sleeping
shed bore     aim and thinking
your cheap     spread gun lice
trowel whore     your blink crust met
a sez glue     fondled in the lack

Fooled

bog roof and lore      the gas tent
eel rotting      festive corpse light
the trawl sunk      your tubes shivered
and your blood comb      sprayed the wall
long towel burnt      crust ,spent ,chattered
breathed the sugar      dead soap and

Cost

brack corner gull      clumps of air
crumps you dig      concrete dust your
face peel yells      thunk ,and pried
funnel through the gore      land bust ,nab
locus writhing      jack your lake
teem and rinse      dice and change

Guns

drat sump leaded      blast pool you
camping in the blood      half dense and
crimped a neck      what’s face left
juice or snore      the primates fall
dust fills the sea      crates of loose
pants and crawls      what’s flopping dim

Heads

hash rinse ,plate      ten domes a ,bread
spread your lumps       lash best ,bed
corn loose your      tub floater clod
paid the corner      lift ball a ,looter
test and doubt       pest knife ,crusted
draft rinse sail      burnt domes a )gland(

Nests

long bomb haul      broke the damp
bus t dance ,ran      cid the cloaker
gust shud ter      mite explodes yr
cool neck tar      gas and dream ,a
ball hand thro      wn tooth con c
rete b lock an      blood ,churned tunnel

Autoimmolation

seeming busted ,slack       get a shone
rock sample learnt      said the corn
goose luggage cave      light and trance
fumbled inna suit      bright stacked jaw
cheese form lent      your ice shape
tested alter stacked      shot your lap

Menu

jump head gout      what you sed
shoulder lead rinsed      bush a pork
flap me one      cargo shorts ,carrot
sore did prance      piles of landings
the grunt shed      place of cryogenics
pock parked ,snare      why face folded

Rugged

junk shadow ,bloom      rice natter clod
spent the toilet      slab coff lid
sport a sugar      tramp cloud nest
tops the lander      blood gnat truncheon
land a spent      roof knocker glue
mort slather dungs      your pie smelt

Spreader

sung my slap bread      pieces ,clungs ,dusts
rabbit storm ,yr pule      late glancer trust
itch and shout      blade rice long ,cost
rots the tentative the      rooster core blunt
taste the shingle      rock, map, rune ,torte
save me one ,a      neck glop towel

To

gape slope dan      ce crowd built yr
“phone” knife shad      ow traced ‘n c
lobbered roundlessl      y mur mured ah
cop flat ,mess st      one mister slo
bber !eat the mo      at flood gas
‘n toweled the s      and er wall et s

Fog o

meat mote ,mice l      ap butt er yr c
louder lamp glanc      ing a head ice
.plan D coll      apsed ‘n clutt
ered a nom b      omb re cut er t
han yr flu      te fing er s
ome den se      r s hade re lapsed

S hot

bind n melt n      bust n beat n
flagger hole you      popper won ,m
alt fog tapping soo      n sugar use
.too p enciled t      oo soak us
e yank see m o      ne shaker clo
t sagging .rack i      n torpid cra pp
er

W et

song nodder lang t      rance belt s
punner caved wit      h tune r ma
g b lotter c rud      der mutitus ma
de my ban g p      od p lanker c
uspe I like r      ain .n down er
fold n beast k      nack lost in f lood

Brow ser

d rop n du mp n      ate c hopper h
ags nor blow n      c ape sh oote
r get re now      n tops .ah g
et k nocker      get nek kid b
low the sui      t yr cow d ra
g g id tape      squirm n boozer

R ule

sheet o shot o s      hut brack sa
id dump clue o      void o s hack o
pinion bragg ing l      ouder tha n a
o said o sad o      b oulder rust yr
c rocker sang      .why b olted wh
y lug nuts why      ankle o not o nut

B lub

bag a beams a      ngry was a n
eat sopper hat      a fl ag a foam
a nap kin you s      pread pretty lim
bs an dic e      ngine floats .a
must a mute a      nt nested c
raw fueler s      ot bang yr foc
o

An

slap o slip o m      utt o p all s
ogger densed n      ostrumed p lank a
boil hue o beaut      .bag camp ,sez
ure finagle .sho      ot o shank o s
hed burnt .bile      lamp you sod den o
ne o fail o s      pecies death o hum

Sho aled

bra t shaker c      log the free wa
y den ser than t      urned yr lice dam
global h ill cha      nging lunch d
rop an dip int o      the trans mission p
oured the laundry      jam lip id cost my
knew yr drivin g h      abits ,grease an turd

Pon der

dung sample ,dot theory ,s      pent gust yr
f lock t ramps the he      aving lect urn
aim an lint ,bus t      han d s lopin
g a game the p      our f lopper
.log flag ,meal din      k din ner vous
leg like sleeps      .bunk head caught

Fort ward

yr box w reck y      r dag rabb it y
r plog bun dle      adder f laked an
dead ,p unch m      e one me cash f
low d ander c      rib business .fla
vour the need      le the rinse y
r tox ic nec      k p lunged a head

Aw

g runge an lap an      business boot you
filled the cough      ing the ,bench s
warmers pocked w      ith suit .lunch t
raced a head g      ash a loss of g
rime wad d      led bloody through
the brok en gl      ass limply in the corner

Mist

c hop c heap c hap g      lue d rained the
win dow nap kin f      loppy in the arm
wind dim s now mus      cle shaded in yr
armpit like a c      rest of ha “time”
.bas h me one m      e brinking like a
pool .mud an mea      t an mute an mol t

Wrack

karam bolage yr      fountain lens y
r face c rushed n     odding of the
glans torn you l      ush neighbor h
ash dancer in the headl      ights facing in
.bob comb glance s      care the sug
ar off .hope m      ewing in the corn

Preservation

half to think of      basement filling ,s
tink water ,h as      h leather ,he
ap of pap er a      nts dead flo at
tension cro wed      ed a cross the r
oofs like rain or      bloo d crisped
yr docu soaked      yr thought all wets

Short

boom shirt caw han      g folder in the
furn ace a th read      him a neck b
olt coll apsed a      .beak crawler ,hob
s pend ,n umb c      amper sp raddled
st inking in yr      ,fuel repôt ,m
ute stanza sh      adow d ripped yr sleeve

August 2006