p o e t r y - $ 8 . 0 0

m o n k e y p u z z l e p r e s s . c o m Barbara Henning

ASlow

Curve

9 7 8 0 9 8 5 1 7 0 5 6 1

ISBN-13 9780985170561ISBN-10 098517056-5

50800

W i t h t h e p u l s e o f Ne w Yo r k C i t y a n d t h e d e p t h o f c h o k i ng o i l d r i l l s i n Te x a s , A S l o w Cur v e d i g s a t , a n d q u i v er s w i t h , t h e s en t en c e a n d i t s p o t en t i a l i t y. Tr av e l i ng cr o s s -c o un tr y a n d i n t o t h e n a ke d wo r d s o f c l o s e a n d h o n e s t r e l a t i o n s h i p s , B a r b a r a Henn i ng ’s l a ng u a g e o p en s o ur e y e s t o w h a t we a l wa y s s e e b u t n e v er p er c e i v e . Ac c o m p a n i e d w i t h t h e p hy s i c a l a n d p r o v o k i ng a r t wo r k o f L a ur i e Pr i c e , t h i s c o l l e c t i o n i s l i ke n o o t h er.

M o n k e y P u z z l e P r e s sD e n v e r , C o l o r a d o

Barbara Henning

ASlow

Curve

copyright © 2012 Barbara Henning

all rights reserved. no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief excerpts. printed in the united states of america.

interior and cover design: Jordan Antonucciinterior and cover art: Laurie Price

A Slow Cur ve

Acknowledgements and Process: I drove out west in the win-ter of 2011. Twice I passed through the oil fields in Texas, once at dusk and once at noon. Later that summer I taught at Naropa and while I was there, I read Bobbie Louise Hawkins’ book One Small Saga, a story of her life with her first husband. In this novel, she is traveling, in my poem I’m traveling, both of us are moving through love and space. I designed a process of extracting phrases and words from One Small Saga, and then quilting these floating words and phrases into A Slow Curve.Quale Press is publishing A Swift Passage in 2013, and A Slow Curve will be included.

ISBN-10: 0985170565

ISBN-13: 9780985170561

monkey puzzle press1548 krameria st.

denver, colorado 80220monkeypuzzlepress.com

For Bobbie Louise Hawkins

If You Walk Faster, It Strolls Faster 1

The Center of Christian Think Radio 2

To Be Reckoned With 3

Or Lightening or Hail or Something 4

And He Was Taken into the Story 5

Ther Back of the Front 7

The Philidelphia Eagles Fall to the Dallas Cowboys 8

There Was That 9

Visual Transmission 10

Only Then Will Success Be Possible 12

For About Ten Minutes, the House Is Rattling 13

The Sloping Petals of an Iris Blossim 15

If You’dda Talked To Me 16

Seattle to Eugene to Portland 17

Women, Naked Light Bulbs and Linoleum 18

Ta b l e o f Co n T e n T s

There Are Some Benefits 20

We’ll Come, Omnipotnece 21

It Gets This Way, I Think 22

Coming Down Down Down 24

I ’ll Put Them All in a Story By and By 25

What Mattered Was the Entirety 26

As If to Conclude an Inch 27

Yes I ’d Like a Soft Chair 28

As If We Have Finally Arrived 29

When It Starts Pouring 30

The Flowers Gust Into The Wind 32

At Montauk 33

Just b e y o ur s e l f , s ay s a woman on th e ra d i o wh i l e I ’m f o l l owing a b i g g re y tr u c k p erhap s f u l l o f p er f um e wi th a s e x y woman p a inte d on th e b a c k d o or. Inti m a c y i n e v e n the sl i g hte s t s tr ipp i ng. S h e ’s we aring a p in k bra an d a f urr y p in k s hawl an d h er l ip s are op en a s i f s h e c o u l d su c k y o u into h er m o uth an d wrap y o u up in h er p in k f ur. We w e nt o v e r the fa l l s i n a mi n dl e s s r u sh . Al ong th e ro a d s i d e , ta l l th in tre e s wi th n o l e ave s , l o o king ver y brown an d p arc h e d , b ut a l s o f e ath er y an d d e l i cate .

If Yo u Wa l k fa s t e r, It st r o l l s fa s t e r

A Slow Cur ve

1

We re c y c l e p la st i c s . I ’m f or that . D on’t y o u a g re e Ch e d ? Alr i g ht . I g u es s . I ’m f or re c y c l ing any th ing . I d on’t want to b e a c c us e d o f b e ing h o sti l e to th e un i ver s e . S o sure I ta ke my p la st i c m i l k jug s o ut to th e c ur b. It on l y ma ke s s ens e f rom a c ons er vati ve p o int o f v i e w. D on’t y o u a g re e Ch e d ? Hi s p ar tn er i s s kep ti ca l bre a k a f a l l a b e l l y f l op We’ l l ta l k ab o u t th i s i n ju s t a mi n u te Ji m . Ch e d’s n e xt top i c : Why d o y o u th i nk Pres i d e nt O ba m a d on’ t m ake that b i r th ce r t i f i c ate p ubl i c ?

Barbara Henning

2

Th e Ce n T e r o f Ch r i s T i a n Th i n k r a d i o

R e d wing e d b la c k b ird s are f a l l ing f rom th e s ky, d e a d , th o us an d s d e a d . I th o ug ht may b e th e y were su c ke d into a thun d er storm , th e man s ay s on th e ra d i o , b ut I wa s wrong . Th ere wa s an e y e wi tn e ss in B e e b e Ci t y an d h e s a i d th ere were b la c k b ird s p erc h e d in tre e s in b i g num b er s . Th e y can’t s e e we l l at n i g ht s o th e y c o u l d n’t have f l own into a s torm . Af ter th e cann on went o f f a f e w tim e s , my f r i en d went o uts i d e an d h e c o u l d h e ar th e s o un d s o f wing s f l y ing l ow, f l y ing into tre e s . Th i s wa s just b e f ore m i d n i g ht on Ne w Ye ar s Eve . May b e i t wa s th e f i re work s . Or l i g hten ing or ha i l or s om e th ing . Por p o i s e s l o w e r the i r v o i ce s to the ra ng e o f the i r c a ptors . B la c k b ird s f a l l ing f rom th e s ky, a we stern s ky, b lu e wi th b i g sp la s h e s o f wh i te , th e we ath er just warm en o ug h to op en th e win d ow.

A Slow Cur ve

3

to Be re c k o n e d WI t h

A man an d woman are s tan d ing b e s i d e th e ir car, a wre c k , du c k tap e an d card b o ard c o vering th e s i d e win d ow s . Acro ss th e g a s i s lan d , th e man te l l s m e th e y n e e d m on e y to g e t to El Pa s o . S h e ’s pre g nant an d h e av y. S om e m o th er to te l l . Can y o u h e lp ? It ’s s tar t ing to g e t dark . I g i ve th em $ 5 . 0 0 . Th ere i s th e strong sm e l l o f o i l in th e a ir. Th e star s that were s o v i v i d n o t l ong a g o are n ow h i d d en b e h in d a th i c k m i st o f dust .

Barbara Henning

4

or li g h T e n i n g o r ha i l o r so m e T h i n g

On th e way b a c k f rom a re st s top , a b i g o l d g uy m o ve s to th e s i d e s o I can p a ss —I m e an h e m i g ht b e my a g e , b ut h e ’s in terr i b l e s hap e , b i g s toma c h , s c owl ing , an d h e l o o k s at m e wi th a l o o k that a lway s s care s m e , th e way, f or s om e re a s on , s om e ro ug h re d n e c k m en l o o k at m e , wh en I ’m just p a ss ing thro ug h th e ir sp a c e , wi th a c om b inati on o f d e s ire an d hatre d , a s i f th e y ’d l i ke to f orc e m e to have s e x an d th en s h o o t m e L ooki ng ba ck w ith he r l i t t l e e y e s the moon wa s a d e f i nite a n d v iv i d c re s ce nt . It ’s g o o d to g e t in th e car an d d ri ve away.

A Slow Cur ve

5

an d he Wa s Ta k e n i n T o T h e sT o r y

Science

On c e wh en Mo o k an d I were h i king in D harma s a la , h e br us h e d a g a inst a p lant an d h i s an kl e instantl y s we l l e d up. A f e w m inute s later, a trave l g u i d e happ en e d by. He lo o ke d at Mo o k’s an kle , p icke d some leaves f rom another p lant an d r u b b e d th em into h i s s kin . Mira c u l o us l y, th e i tc h ing stopp e d . Th ere ’s a lway s an anti d o te n e ar by, h e s a i d , an d th en h e d i s app e are d aro un d th e b en d wi th h i s ento ura g e . Th ere ’s a y o g a sutra —wh en y o u are s tre ss e d or f i xe d on a n e g ati ve th o ug ht , th in k th e opp o s i te . It ’s a lway s n e ar by, on e th o ug ht n e xt to an o th er, an d i t h e lp s to s e e m ore c l e ar l y. Thro ug h th e dust an d th e g lare f rom th e s e tt ing sun , a s i g n f or Mi d lan d C o l l e g e . I p ut my m in d e l s e wh ere , a d j a c ent . Crawl ing a l ong on th e s er vi c e d ri ve , I can’t s e e m ore than a f e w f e e t , just f o l l owing th e car in f ront o f m e an d th en , o op s , b a c k on th e h i g hway a g a in , th e sun s in king wi th o i l f i e l d s a l l aro un d .

A Slow Cur ve

7

Th e ba C k o f T h e fr o n T

Barbara Henning is the author of seven collections of poetry and three novels. Her most recent books are a collection of poetry and prose, Cities and Memory (Chax Press); a novel, Thirty Miles to Rosebud (BlazeVox); a collection of object-sonnets, My Autobi-ography (United Artists); and a book of interviews, Looking Up Harryette Mullen (Belladonna). Forthcoming is A Swift Passage from Quale Press. Barbara grew up in Detroit and has lived in New York City since 1983. She teaches for writers.com, as well as Naropa University and Long Island University in Brooklyn, where she is Professor Emerita.

Featured Artist:Laurie Price

Barbara Henning

Laurie Price has been creating visual work and writing for a few decades. The featured works are from a series titled Inside Out / De Dentro Hacia Fuera. These assemblage boxes are completely made from recycled materials and ideas. Ongoing visual work/pho-tos can be seen here: graciouseconomiesandcorrugatedshadows.blogspot.com. She has a new book of poetry forthcoming from Lunar Chandelier Press (in Brooklyn, NY), entitled Radio at Night.

Photo by Martine Bellen

Body in Hydrophilic Frame is a rare look inside the complexities of the writer’s cacoon. A body wrapped and smothered, shattered and laced with grit. This, and birth. A raw and inten-tional exploration of language, space and communication. Min Jung Oh’s has set a new standard for innovative poetry.

Poetry / $8.00Published: September 2012ISBN-10: 0-9851705-4-9

With tooth and nail, Meg Tuite scrapes not under the skin, but under the bone to find the marrow of meaning and purpose in the lives of her char-acters. Her unique voice and style redefine what it means to be a woman, and to be a writer.

Fiction / $8.00Published: January 2012ISBN-10: 0-9826646-9-9

A modern day Beat combination of Rocky Balboa uppercuts and Kerouacian human perception, THE WEEKENDER exhibits the greatest fear of all rebellious writers: ending up inside the slammer with the pros.

Fiction / $8.00Published: July 2012ISBN-10: 0-9851705-1-4

other chapbooks from

Monkey Puzzle Press

p o e t r y - $ 8 . 0 0

m o n k e y p u z z l e p r e s s . c o m Barbara Henning

ASlow

Curve

9 7 8 0 9 8 5 1 7 0 5 6 1

ISBN-13 9780985170561ISBN-10 098517056-5

50800