Ralph Hawkins

from Some Questions Concerning Civilisation

the bastard sons were dropped from sky drums
nourished by nitrates
hardened by the life of the forest
and when the moisture from their breath dispersed upon the earth
a fiery substance went up into the air
producing thunder bangs and lightening swords,
forks to stab endless victims, these are they
that became the war-like clans of our earth endlessly migrating
hunting hunters in caves
shepherds in tents
and farmers the first to build proper huts


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geometric compositions typify interiors
the door seeps a dribble of natural light
dogs are copulating to form a pyramid

naturally as she is having
an affair with another inhabitant of another hut

outside the birds sing in the evening rain
if only we could understand the song


* * *

 

motifs like a river run through
1611 Gabriel Rollenhagen's Book of Emblems
the use of the window for procurement and seduction—
to drink a love potion opens a window
causing the natural essences of life to surge
foolish love I feel like a lemon
a third party
Perch'io stresso mi strusi
the clients only moderately drunk, only moderately vulgar
it's the picture of an idea of society
husbands, marriage, clothes, wealth, comfort, vice
the rug from an original city
river valley market
the Volvo and the drink going to my head
Frans van Meris The Soldier and The Prostitute


* * *

 

Was Heidegger a Buddhist
          did he copulate in the woods (Holzwege)
with a maiden of the woods
[do you remember her subsequent children and the
accompanying illustration]
          there to contemplate being and perhaps a mushroom
do you remember the Woods
could I be a Buddhist?
I'd call you (you need mountains to yodel) my nymph of the woods
Did Heidegger suffer from nympholepsy
or was he too concerned with hammers and nails and wood for his wooden hut
Did he have a brain room in his hut
Did he have rat poison
I must get back to you
I must return by the ship of the mind
Chemins qui mènent nulle part
(ways that lead nowhere) leading me on letting me go
if I yodel across mountain thyme
would you answer (those tracks which wind purposely from one point to the next
the odd goat and goat herder looking on, the odd whistle from the wolf, Mrs Woods
calling the sheep in)
we could retrace our steps through the woods which led nowhere
I could cook for you (wild mushrooms)
You could introduce your children and your husband
the woodcutter (are there trees in the Himalayan foothills)

 

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Copyright © Ralph Hawkins, 2007.

Ralph Hawkins lives in Essex. His last collection The MOON, The Chief Hairdresser (highlights) was published by Shearsman Books in 2004. His next book, Gone to Marzipan, will be published by Shearsman in 2009.