Chicago -
By J.J. Tindall
A BLACK HORSE GRAZES THE RED GRASS OF MARS
A black horse grazes
The red grass of Mars.
The horse is black
And the grass
Is red, red
Like the grass
In a painting called
“Vision After the Sermon”
By Paul Gaugin.
Posted on June 8, 2015
By J.J. Tindall
MICHIGAN CITY BLUES
“In Chicago you become a connoisseur of the near nothing.” – Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift
Seven Choruses
1
I can see clearly
Now, clear
As the spring sky,
That I will work
Until the day
I die.
Posted on May 5, 2015
By J.J. Tindall
CHRISTINA HENDRICKS SAID
A Dream Verite for Albert Maysles, American Film Maker (1926-2015)
Christina Hendricks said
“You’re a writer,
You better get in there,”
Referring to the control room
Of the recording studio
Set up beneath the United Center
Posted on March 31, 2015
By J.J. Tindall
SPRING SONG
After Jai Raj Harrisong
Little Darling:
Bang a gong
Of Siddhartha
At the coming
Of spring!
Posted on March 16, 2015
By J.J. Tindall
CHICAGO
I created myself
From a dank creek.
A fusillade of selves, really,
Self-made and re-made
From an orgy
Of trade.
Jerusalem and Gomorrah,
Giza to Gaza,
Gargantuan Ozymandias
Of stacked prairie mud.
Steel shoulders,
Digital loins,
Posted on January 24, 2015
By J.J. Tindall
PINBALL LIZARD/GUITAR ZERO
I’d hate to have “HATE”
Murdered to my brow
Or tattooed on my forearm
Like graffiti on a freight car.
I’d be tempted by the allure
Of a refusal to endure.
Posted on December 22, 2014
By J.J. Tindall
Love in Vain in a Station of the Metro
I lost my last car
In the Late Crash,
Forced underground
Into the subways again,
Back to the trains
And my fellow Undergroundlings.
Just another near-vagrant
Posted on November 24, 2014
By J.J. Tindall
Sixteen Movies Ago
Sixteen movies ago
I was heavy with greed.
Had a sextet
Of moods, generally.
Weeping at orbs.
Clowning with trees.
Seven movies ago
I was peering
At the labyrinth
Posted on October 22, 2014
By J.J. Tindall
MIRAGES OF MATCHSTICK MEN
Like the winged seeds
Of the maple tree whirling
Down unto a suburban
Cul-de-sac
In early autumn, riffs
And licks from my songs
Of innocence
Posted on September 23, 2014
By J.J. Tindall
SPHINX OF PROCOPIUS
An electric butterfly
with blue glass wings
circles the head
of this glass sphinx.
Legend alleges
the brothers of Procopius Abbey –
now Illinois Benedictine University
In Lisle –
machined this idol
for a secret cemetery
Posted on August 27, 2014
