TAM(SIN) BLAXTER

lasch out

þer is a fisch-ban stucc
inne mi þrote

& ih wish mysself all 2bones             [dri banes inne an amazon pacquet
[in th ert         [inn the knowin erth

[or smooth cartiledges+honied                     as th inside ofv             a wind-auw-frame
ih wish þys w/HEDI POWDRS on th altar ofv myn tung

+ MAIZIE
after nones

or i wiss            al bones awey
wish 4 softnisse

w/ PEERES IN SIRIP, blak XICOLATL
+POPPCORNE                   on th’alter ofv th druncen niht

* * *

i t try to a a address myselfe to m my Work Colleagues
yet þe fisch-ban does n no                   ne move

            [sh xe moveð n
            [ne moveð noht

or @ th worsening pub table
leeri w/punishmnt for aloneliness + loudening as a rookerie             i saie:

             wht do u needes kno now
             of wht i do w/my bodie

+ u turne ur hwole shlders aweg from me
like a solid-fuel rokkit uglicryin on th launch pad

a solid-fuel rockt paynted
A m e r i c a n colours—ufeelme—O nobil + upreech

O bb b bryiliant a as
a single silver fish nosin up up my throat

nosin up twrds th sunne

dissying ilands ofv socialitie

yn th dusc @ my windo
& myn laumpes r lit n merrig              like sum fruiti rosé
agenst th utside/         as agenst sobrietie

in þe rite lite ppl  jst    e m e r g e
frm out Kings Gate like gret peil objekts risin twrds þe sirfas
ofv an uncaryable sea

u think:             but þes medium [air/water] ys transparant!! hw cld u nxt
             hv cn this ~downing-ufo ofv a knoable figure
frm further off?           /            but ther it is

my x + me hav bn txting all weeke
+ i can picchure our freonds disapprovin twitches
o lyke boxes of redhed matches                        needin lit

             u hav to giv her space
(myn imagined virshions ofv my frends speeche to me)
             uv moved so mych faster       -than her-                    u hav to let her m

{friend} < *frijōndaz [Proto-Germanic]
meenin l lover or per
haps l liberator

e.g. i c sofia 4 lunche + she askes how hav u bin
somehw finde miself speeching inkie dives, 1st aidkits,                th ugli djunk
of my life þt leeves      me like a slice of geode yn th bisig cafe

e.g. i c stacei 4nye       we finde us speechin politics @ 1am
her angri bodi stiffend on the sofa arm bside me
so mch like an broken bone                  so lyke an unanswd email

in myn empti room + all
th lampes alit i feel f free yes
or prhps i feel th thin

● th brite halles           ● & th black gates as o p e n
as a Grace or a gong               ● & th leng hours btwxt           1 mrning + the nxt
grope twrds me

i rmembr the wnderful cold of þat sea-@-niht
o its wnderful, emetic salt
i wnder hw far             i can c dwn

declarations of love a PLAY in TWO ACTS

PUBLIC PHILOLOGIST

sum1 ascs me ovr twitterDMs              are u a woman tho         + sins ive no esperau answer
              yet am dutyful
i turn me 2                    my bodi boocs:

           ~ HESIOD sayes not t wash in womanlie water cos ther is smthing mournful in it for a time
           ~ HESIOD sayes getu a womman BUT onli a slave womman               lest ur work diminish
           ~ HESIOD sayes nt to let a woman-w/-decorated-buttocks        coax ur mind, cos        SHE        IS
                       AFTER UR BARN (no rly)

i reed wills + testamentes + they do sey
              ekke er mannenom visare en dauðinn
              ekke ok vuisare en dauðans timi                       i’ve no suritie of death                +    yiet   its   hour
is viss   in the   penning spiraling of seaguls over superdrug on sidney st                       so

i goe into college          /in2 th dim theatres     /in2 puls ofv junction lights                    +folc  saye  to  me
             u women are the very public face of joy ! !!                  bt i kno no swch simplite in crowdes

i turne me bac 2wards my bodye bocs:

           ~ APOLLODORUS sayes tht Hesiod sayes this one was changed frm a man into a woman
           ~ PAUSANIAS sayes         th objectes depicted are as follows: water like a river            w/reeds
                       growin w/in it        & fishes;                        forms of fishes r so dim            tht u take them to
                       be shadows n not fish        @ first
           ~ PAUSANIAS sayes Manto she of Teiresios
           ~ PAUSANIAS sayes the daughter of Teiresios
           ~ She looked anxiously into the sky.

i dnt know how helpful eny of this                         this this                                                         

                                                            [There is no solas under hevene

i mean that i could tell you that     the etymology of woman is the
same as that of web             that is one who w weaves      wasp    is
waving in, in and back        the window     vespa/ ves vesper that’s
strumming the horizon                   tht  doth  ring  and  ring  gwchi
gwchi like a drone that passes murderous across this
                      belling-quiet                                                                   sky
                                                                but    that    would    be    a   lie

                                                           [And some seide he was a wicche

i could tell u  tht th etymologie of  woman is  the same  as  that of
woe              i  mean   it’s   barelie   a   ‘word’   so   much  as  it’s  the
rabbit’s booming vois                        a thing so old it  bittered in the
ribd barrel of its pronoun    how it’s wrapt abt its ever-attendant—
its                                       ever-attendant              clepie-in2-th-earth
                                                                but    that    would    be    a    lie

                                                [ih look @ me + see Coveitise-of-eighes

i    could    tell    u   the    etymology    ofv    woman    is   the    same
as tht of        vernal               as vein                its etymology is that of
         ochre                  or ofv ask                        it’s from the same root
as interpreter + also axiom              it’s   the   very   same   word  as
bliva drown become            and     you    wil     surely    believe    me

                                                  + every thing remains the same

Tam(sin) Blaxter is a historical linguist from Bristol. She likes: very old things; very new things; language caught and pinned in place, at least briefly; trying to imagine beautiful, lifeless places elsewhere in the universe; incongruously large earrings. You can find her online at www.icge.co.uk or (sometimes) on twitter @what_really_no.