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266 views15 pagesE P I L O G U E by Craig Watson, Edited by Ted Pearson Book Preview
Epilogue is a brilliant collection of Craig Watson’s late-stage poetry. As such, it signals neither harmony nor resolution, but intransigence, difficulty, and unresolved conflict. The book may be in that sense the description of a catastrophe, and a humorous one at that. “To be old is to understand everything at last. / But there were so many ways to avoid arriving here.” Watson’s humor can be mordant or acerbic. Only to quickly turn exuberant and seductive. “The goal of sex and poetry is to say
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
266 views15 pagesE P I L O G U E by Craig Watson, Edited by Ted Pearson Book Preview
Epilogue is a brilliant collection of Craig Watson’s late-stage poetry. As such, it signals neither harmony nor resolution, but intransigence, difficulty, and unresolved conflict. The book may be in that sense the description of a catastrophe, and a humorous one at that. “To be old is to understand everything at last. / But there were so many ways to avoid arriving here.” Watson’s humor can be mordant or acerbic. Only to quickly turn exuberant and seductive. “The goal of sex and poetry is to say
Uploaded by
BlazeVOX [books]Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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EPILOGUE
CRAIG WATSON
EPILOGUE
Edited by Ted Pearson
BLAZEVOX[BOOKS]
Buffalo, New York
EPILOGUE
by Craig Watson, editor: Ted Pearson
Copyright © 2024 by The Literary Estate of Craig Watson
Published by BlazeVOX [books]
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without
the publisher’s written permission, except for brief quotations in reviews.
Printed in the United States of America
Interior design and typesetting by Geoffrey Gatza
Cover Art: Craig Watson, Untitled, completed in 2020.
First Edition
ISBN: 978-1-60964-475-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2024934293
BlazeVOX [books]
131 Euclid Ave
Kenmore, NY 14217
[email protected]
publisher of weird little books
BlazeVOX [ books ]
blazevox.org
23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
It was like nothing that ever was. Only more so.
– Jim Thompson
Contents
Sitting on Top of the World
11
Alibis
25
Songs
43
1.
“Can’t you paint something more realistic?” the echo asked
as if the world had stopped and was nervously waiting to resume.
“It’s easier to fill their minds with discrepancies than it is
to let them admire you.”
Drones and drums made music inevitable, long before melody
ruled the roost.
A good answer might be, “I only paint mirrors.”
13
2.
A very thin language separates us from evidence of the real.
This explains the disappearance of Gondwanaland
and the subsequent invention of opposable thumbs.
Only intentions have names.
Wouldn’t it be fun to visit a world where what we call
“equality” ruled what we call “life”?
We wouldn’t have to ask any more of the past
if the present came back armed to the teeth.
14
3.
After I retired as a sex addict, I started counting
everything that might make a poem.
Obviously, every idea needs a disguise, the way
colors have their own vocabulary.
If knowledge is entertainment, information is power.
A good poem turns a good profit, so I was often
invited to conferences and to mingle at costume balls.
There is still so much to know, but not so much
that’s unknowable.
The goal of sex and poetry is to say, “I’ve done it all.”
Meet me poolside at midnight and I’ll show you how.
15
4.
By Sunday night, every idea is inevitable.
Then the days roll on, indentured,
entrenched, ordained, and priced to sell.
Salute the uniform, not the person.
Peace is a lack of confidence.
Or perhaps take the long view
in the blink of an eye.
Still no air conditioning at home.
The holidays must be here again.
16
5.
This pill will put you to sleep for twenty years.
You’ll wake up as a stranger to everyone and
no one will expect anything from you.
You can tell them it was like floating in air
or swimming in the sea
without becoming tired or bored.
Try free associating or walking around naked.
They’ll believe anything.
Nothing will be the same and you can take
advantage of that.
The future is pretending to greet you,
and you are pretending to care.
17
6.
It’s 70 degrees outside and 70 years old in here.
Just how long have you been standing there?
Don’t forget, this is all temporary.
Windows configure reality, that is, everything
that doesn’t, but must exist.
What should we do when there’s no way to see it?
It doesn’t matter, there’s weather everywhere.
The terms of extinction are inviolable.
18
7.
Just try writing after a weekend like that.
You could think about heavenly peace for hours
and still not get anywhere.
But nobody can get elected without reorganizing
the public memory, line by line, note by note.
The paradox is, the deeper you go, the greater
the opacity of what cannot be said.
Thus, another pitiless weekend is softly building
up waves till the surf overwhelms you at last.
Outside, the fresh mown grass sugars the field,
perfect justification to spend the day in redaction.
The chairmen won’t like it even as they know
that someone has to clean up the mess
and give them something to deny.
19
