s w i f t s  &  s l o w s: a quarterly of crisscrossings

The Smallest Room
Colin James & Glenn Bowie

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Post Conceptual Modernism

 

The smallest room of the art gallery
contained the most people.
My artist wanted the room crowded,
indicative to me that we will never
completely eradicate racism.
The hallway was also an exhibit space,
with her strategically placed
microphones enhancing a voice tenfold.
I couldn’t stop saying her name over and over
as if unconditionally ugly, prenatally pretty.
Save me from this commitment.
An eye for splendor doesn’t last
whereas pragmatism prospers.
Overstated critical demands
are like erotic ephemera kicking
it around churlishly with a few friends.

In the Soft Light of Video’s Glare

 

My audience is usually livid
hissing in hypnotic chorus.
One of their own reduced to this,
the relentless perfectionism
of yet another rigged portraiture .
I am reminded of the last time
I saw you naked.
You were reading in the bath
knees like islands.
Although your courage still
floats with surrealistic puberty
all creativity is stagnant
until my cowlick adheres.

Person Jumping From  a Moving Vehicle in Slow Motion

 

The traffic in fact helps.
That’s what an old artist friend
told me after she finally
got her work exhibited in one of those poncy galleries.
Mention it to the gallery owner,
that she might play light organ music
in the background.  Instead she shook
her head almost violently
as if trying to physically remove
the thought from her brain.
Sat down in an uncomfortable chair,
tinkered with the room’s pessimism.

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Colin James has a book of poems, Resisting Probability, from Sagging Meniscus Press. He lives in Massachusetts.

Glenn Bowie is a published lyricist and photographer from the Boston area, and author of Under the Weight of Whispers, Poem and Photographs. Into the Thorns and Honey is his second book, and he donates all profits to various charities for the homeless and local animal shelters. He also owns and operates an elevator company that supplies custom-built elevators for clients from New England to Hollywood.  More of Glenn’s work can be seen at  Glenn Bowie Poetry