Mark S. Kuhar, the artist known as markk, with friend Jack
photo lifted from his deep cleveland bio page
the declamatia
verse 1
i declare the morning of
the universe, spread like
a wild cream across
the firmament of the
ages, this starting point
for all things true
& possible
i declare the advent of
trembling love, a vast
sweep through the
quartz of rhythm
speaking to me
in a language i
own
i declare the hurling
of all precipitous
feelings & emotions
a vantage point
from which i can
view the falling
petals of an ancient fire
i declare the vagrant
beauty that you possess
yet hoard to yrself
like a pile of copper
coins, like a treasure
of reveries
i declare the holostorm
of peculiar logic, a thinking
pattern that finds its
measure in retrospect
a cauldron of memories
& vain perceptions
i declare the image of
wisdom painted on
baby faces, a peace
of sidestepped
catastrophies that
rumbles in silver cages
i declare the lament
of the lost tomorrow,
days of grandeur
dropped like an old
rag, forgotten before
it ever begins
i declare the oracle
of godenergy the
smallest of the
smallest part, the
original building block
the cellular enigma
source/hovering
i declare the full
range of yer
savage intelligence
the breath of yer
meadering mind, the
forest of fluidbeds
octagonal & linear
i declare the righteous
march of the infinite
trailing me through
time like a lost dog
loyal like science
i brandish the
sword of fulfillment
oceans of opportunity
craving the hot lips
of yer magnitude
immense in pure longing
verse 2
i declare the death of ignorance, the death of insanity,
rolling with its selfish spikes of treason across the
holy force of this calm vestibule, i declare the death
of hate, the hangman’s noose that twists tight on
the black neck of remorse, i declare the death of
this monarchy of the soul, this kingdom of greed
speaking with yellow teeth into the howling malestrom
i declare the death of deceit, the death of treachery,
the death of primitive instincts, the death of darkness,
the death of destruction, the death of all dim demise
for within darkness is a palette of death omens, the
knife blade that sharpens itself, the gun that stays
loaded, the scabbed fist beset with all vain striking,
i declare the death of death, there is no death where
perceptions are cleansed, washed free, flooded
with the matchless visions of arcane realities, those
things that the human beast is free to understand,
ill-equipped to understand behind curtains of unknowing
i declare the death of the perception of death, the myths
& impossibilities, the craven boomerang of lifetrons,
the metamorphasis of niddering numbness, the callous
outrageous foolishness that is mistaken for aliveness,
realness, importantness, blameless, fearless, thisness
(calling upon the sweet realms to open up in free embrace,
this incurve of reason, no longer conjecture, telepathic
this intelligence, om the demarche i undertake in yr name)
verse 3
i declare the revelation
of these new identities,
a dynamic where tables
are of absurd heights &
chairs are as big as
the side of a house
& mountains are tiny
when compared with
distant planets & the
grains of sand are each
as big as new baseballs
i declare incongruous
juxtaposition as the
rule of order, where
driveways are mauve,
teal, bleached bone white,
lined up in strange rows
in contrast to each other
an edward scizzorhands
crashing the local reality
where counter tops have
moguls like a ski slope
where dogs have six legs,
sometime eight like a
panting centipede & run
wild with cats on two feet
i declare the cleansing
of the rapacious monotone
of silence, a music of the
faculties that dances like
the tafetta of moonlight
on the satin of lullaby
mermaid skin, wet from
an ocean of sleek destiny
i declare the fruits of the
earth whirling like atoms
around fearless wobbly heads
the einstein of reason, the
kerouac of dreamy expression
the matisse of hope, the
mapplethorpe of shocking
beauty, the mute pavlova of
circuitous hand waving, the
faraday of yodels, the livingstone
of desperation quotas, the
khelebnikov of infinite space
the seven dwarfs of your
laughing impartial loyalty
i declare a hazing, a sugar
tattoo savoring of all painful
art & grace, the sacrificial
lamb of gorgeous birthing,
the sloughing off of a
horsehair skin to reveal
the nebulous that you
hoard in a fear fever,
unwilling to emerge in
broad daylight, oh sister
these arms are rising
like underground balloons
for you & the color of your
eyes will change like the
belly of a long chameleon
marking visual territory
slow, like midnight rain
* * *
“the declamatia” by Mark Kuhar is posted with his permission
all rights to this poem remain with its creator
Mark S. Kuhar (aka markk)
is a Cleveland based writer, poet and editor
he founded the deep cleveland poetry hour
(a spoken word event held the 2nd Friday of every month at Borders in Strongsville, Ohio)
and is proprietor of deep cleveland llc
Mark’s work has appeared in Cleveland Poetry Scenes, ArtCrimes 21, The City Poetry 5,
America Zen: A Gathering of Poets, and dozens of other publications, including three chapbooks:
acrobats in catapault twist (7 beers & a hedgehog press)
laughing in the ruins of chippewa lake park (deep cleveland press)
e40th & pain: poems from deep cleveland (deep cleveland press)
you can find more work by markk (and many other Cleveland area artists)
at www.deepcleveland.com
To contact markk or buy his chapbooks, e-mail him: markk@deepcleveland.com
* * *
The following volumes featuring poetry by Mark S. Kuhar are available from Amazon:
the declamatia (by Mark S. Kuhar)
21 Thursday Aug 2008
Posted 2000s, American, Cleveland, kuhar (mark s), Writing
in