Reynolds & Midway XX

Jim Morrison croon'd it and by now we

don't need to do we? You see, it's simple,
as we sd before, he sd, Midway, trying
to avoid the Beat which will not be easy
for it is stampt, deep impressd in the you-
know-whatsis    speaking of whom, those
20th century foxes, they are present
and vividly standing, as in not dancing,
before me, bare-behinded, a cru el vision
because we have not, save 1 unfortunate
even, at which . now I hear a sacred song|
but to continue: and to ask a question of
ourselves, is this the work of Satan, that sly
& witherering apple salesman ? D'evil,
depending on whom one turns to bend an ear
to hear the truth, which is a slippery thing?
Doer of evil? Let us recall Ezekiel:
God Himself, Who can and will deceive
whomever He chooses, or, which is to say,
elects. I do not mean to stir the pot
nor bring confusion, only to seek clarity
and understanding, quoth Midway, which
is me, William, having surely come to the
middle of life's way, 1 shy of Elder brother
born also in July on the 1st day, one yr &
1 day prior, in nineteen-sixty-three,
that awful year when Jack was taken out
by one or several 'gunmen', pending on
where you turn & where you look to seek
the knowledge that you need to make
a judgment. Midway scratcht a villanelle
about that terrible day, but it was reckd
for being the trivial & mechanical object
it was, and so was thereby taken out.
Now to return to the heart of the matter:
the quhite & waxen haunches in the skull
that rankle & distract the mind
that wills to focus on the Lord & stick
to the path. Can I dissolve these images?
He asked, hands mentally smitten together
in prayer whilst lying on his side in half-
sleep, when those visions come disturbing
& send the blood to Mr. Johnson, who
can do no less than what he is commanded,
but hath been ruind by the lawful Lord
because we said, Midway & I, that: that
great crooked beast, Leviathan, hath sown
his seed upon my spine, a line from Hymns
I scribbled in my grave concern & fear
& used the stately and magnificent pace
of In Memoriam to set it straight & make
it plain to God and to what ears wd listen
which have been few, but goode, such as
Tim and Alan, who gave me Beowulf;
David, who sent my villanelle to England;
and Robbie Mac, to whom I made offense
by leading him unto a spurious guide
for Quiche Lorraine. & so it goes 4 Midway
who cannot even with a tractor pull
his head from out his ass: these words are true,
let no-one be ashamed who uttered them,
the man I have dishonored many times,
without whose strength and guidance, and
pure love, I should be dead a 1,000 x,
quod John of Birmingham, whose golden throat
was rarely heeded by the stinging pens
of critics, wielders of cliche and envy,
who stand upon the shoulders of great men
and spout their mockery in wanton fury,
as Carlyle warned, to preface that Novalis,
poet whose beauty shows in portraiture
whom I have not read; tho' there be a great
many whose names will live on. Let us pause,
& look about us, Reynolds interjected,
whom I've all but forgotten, and neglected.

11.22.13