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A carefully designed chapbook that perches itself precariously on the line, this new work shuffles two sets of poems in a painstaking engagement with language and sound . Designed to be read rightside-up or upside-down, King & Queen is as delightful as it is innovative.
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KING&QUEENKING&QUEEN
KING&QUEEN
KING&QUEEN
© Todd Melicker 2012
2nd Printing
L R Llittle red leaves textile editions
www.littleredleaves.com
Todd Melicker daily wanders the streets of Petaluma, Ca, gathering data as a GPS technician. He would like to thank the editors of the following journals where some of these poems first appeared, Bateau, Chicago Quarterly Review, New American Writing, and Parthenon West Review.
This little red leaves textile series chapbook was lovingly sewn by Dawn Pendergast using recycled and remnant fabrics.
Todd Melicker daily wanders the streets of Petaluma, Ca, gathering data as a GPS technician. He would like to thank the editors of the following journals where some of these poems first appeared, Bateau, Chicago Quarterly Review, New American Writing, and Parthenon West Review.
This little red leaves textile series chapbook was lovingly sewn by Dawn Pendergast using recycled and remnant fabrics.
© Todd Melicker 2012
2nd Printing
L R Llittle red leaves textile editions
www.littleredleaves.com
King &QueenTodd Melicker
King &QueenTodd Melicker
King &QueenTodd Melicker
King &QueenTodd Melicker
vi
vi
king
at his side wearily
an only crown: the watch
on his wrist
a hawk falls tremendously
with the thought of having
curtains close over
a knee, a perpetual sound of sun
queen
she has, of course, the bird-hands
to foresee landscape & love
slopes in, sculpts
the back hollow, the wait
on the shoulders, fi rst
the socks are removed & then
the need for feet
17
king
at his side wearily
an only crown: the watch
on his wrist
a hawk falls tremendously
with the thought of having
curtains close over
a knee, a perpetual sound of sun
queen
she has, of course, the bird-hands
to foresee landscape & love
slopes in, sculpts
the back hollow, the wait
on the shoulders, fi rst
the socks are removed & then
the need for feet
17
vii
vii
king
the entrance circled about
at the chest-bridge, the coming & goings
of the adults, sex-built like
bird-house, again his arms gone missing
when buttoning on the body. what with wings
bowed low against a low roofed crèche, knocking
his knee on the table, barely her timorous his
queen
her face for the prevention of
loneliness, habitat of the hands
an atom itself is a pair: formed
unformed, warmth in the accumulation of
nestle, sewn groves, the door in the word
home is a circle, as her inability to resist radii
provides radiance, the sad song of the nuclei
16
king
the entrance circled about
at the chest-bridge, the coming & goings
of the adults, sex-built like
bird-house, again his arms gone missing
when buttoning on the body. what with wings
bowed low against a low roofed crèche, knocking
his knee on the table, barely her timorous his
queen
her face for the prevention of
loneliness, habitat of the hands
an atom itself is a pair: formed
unformed, warmth in the accumulation of
nestle, sewn groves, the door in the word
home is a circle, as her inability to resist radii
provides radiance, the sad song of the nuclei
16
viii
viii
king
holds rapt with the hand,
face out, the cut paper of divinity
division with the subject, unable
to defend why a 6 shelters in a 9
none so necessary as the virgule
every line needs direction
every sum has two makers
queen
her contrary garden, the way
lost, by now all loss—
the cells succumb with gravity to
her calf, taught as decision & with
the watering of the grass on the dais
she goes barefoot among fl owering
cerebellum, her strained posture as sundial
15
king
holds rapt with the hand,
face out, the cut paper of divinity
division with the subject, unable
to defend why a 6 shelters in a 9
none so necessary as the virgule
every line needs direction
every sum has two makers
queen
her contrary garden, the way
lost, by now all loss—
the cells succumb with gravity to
her calf, taught as decision & with
the watering of the grass on the dais
she goes barefoot among fl owering
cerebellum, her strained posture as sundial
15
ix
ix
king
after wildness why he
can return to her
measurement making
a divulgence with her hands
the quizzical a caught look
to reanimal without
remove, her patience could
queen
intimate violence, wring
handsome, pulling
the scraps to herself
crumb trail to fi nd
herself home, window
lit, red suitable
darts, diamonds dark
14
king
after wildness why he
can return to her
measurement making
a divulgence with her hands
the quizzical a caught look
to reanimal without
remove, her patience could
queen
intimate violence, wring
handsome, pulling
the scraps to herself
crumb trail to fi nd
herself home, window
lit, red suitable
darts, diamonds dark
14
x
x
king
colored on swan, called
upon while sleeping in
human form his shame
in touch, in holy other
a mineral exchange his
hands blackening on her
red, his gentle lapse
queen
her guilty neck, litmus
the lean, her expectation
alkaline, the blue shattered
clothes of test fl ight, kiss
of the continuous, panes,
as sewn, strewn, an arrival
with limes, with coeffi cients
13
king
colored on swan, called
upon while sleeping in
human form his shame
in touch, in holy other
a mineral exchange his
hands blackening on her
red, his gentle lapse
queen
her guilty neck, litmus
the lean, her expectation
alkaline, the blue shattered
clothes of test fl ight, kiss
of the continuous, panes,
as sewn, strewn, an arrival
with limes, with coeffi cients
13
xi
xi
king
wound in cerement, his arms in the famous x
she carries his description, his
lap of farther, his remaining pair of shoes
patina, the reduction to water &
a single transaction: drink this. eat this. crown of
leaving, crown of twigs, a uniform pyre
when she replies my will undone
queen
her memory obliges the semi-permanent
membrane, durable cotton dress, her lap of hatchlings
etcetera falls from sporing
kingdoms, comes across their park bench, pinks thru
her crown of curls, crown of
laurel when he stands to proclaim in heaven
there is not longing turning neither to the left or right
12
king
wound in cerement, his arms in the famous x
she carries his description, his
lap of farther, his remaining pair of shoes
patina, the reduction to water &
a single transaction: drink this. eat this. crown of
leaving, crown of twigs, a uniform pyre
when she replies my will undone
queen
her memory obliges the semi-permanent
membrane, durable cotton dress, her lap of hatchlings
etcetera falls from sporing
kingdoms, comes across their park bench, pinks thru
her crown of curls, crown of
laurel when he stands to proclaim in heaven
there is not longing turning neither to the left or right
12
xii
xii
king
uncertainly he is sure of his body
learns the results of its adult form
the heredity from comparative specimens, diminutive
& the absence of swans. his crown tied
around one leg, this don’t forget, a fragile
circulation, elbow subtlety, that is
the necessity to assemble from a question
queen
her role in repair, the ties
that gird his limbs back into
place, an epoxy love, for use on ceramics,
wood, vinyl, most plastics, an assortment of
nomenclature, his vegetal return while she
applies steady pressure to the dislocated shoulder
an assurance of absence, interlocked wainscoting
11
king
uncertainly he is sure of his body
learns the results of its adult form
the heredity from comparative specimens, diminutive
& the absence of swans. his crown tied
around one leg, this don’t forget, a fragile
circulation, elbow subtlety, that is
the necessity to assemble from a question
queen
her role in repair, the ties
that gird his limbs back into
place, an epoxy love, for use on ceramics,
wood, vinyl, most plastics, an assortment of
nomenclature, his vegetal return while she
applies steady pressure to the dislocated shoulder
an assurance of absence, interlocked wainscoting
11
xiii
xiii
king
he has the bird-head, balance
the solicitous necks, the human fi gure, the war
to confer the sunrise, second
eyelid fl icker hides its button hole,
a suit, burden of the right hand for the left, so
was the mark just behind the ear
identifi es, his name makes an hour
queen
she has the remaining wing
sweaters never fi t, bilateral
lifestyle in its shoulder-sling
white on walk, where the swarm
expires into swans, a bracelet
formed with the cinching of their necks
hemoglobin makes the blue jeans blue
10
king
he has the bird-head, balance
the solicitous necks, the human fi gure, the war
to confer the sunrise, second
eyelid fl icker hides its button hole,
a suit, burden of the right hand for the left, so
was the mark just behind the ear
identifi es, his name makes an hour
queen
she has the remaining wing
sweaters never fi t, bilateral
lifestyle in its shoulder-sling
white on walk, where the swarm
expires into swans, a bracelet
formed with the cinching of their necks
hemoglobin makes the blue jeans blue
10
xiv
xiv
king
clocks pick at the corpses, his
six swans returned all but their faces
crowd around a corrugated hearth then
the hawk, an ancestry of soliloquy & confl ict
horuses the sun, honor is a pair of bare
hands, feet an invention where
fl esh gives & crooks & would be
queen
her hand is found & is not
returned & she trades her head for her
wings. there are no folktales without
cost. the appearances of choice
she alights & lights, like to
unfurl, diminished to a curl of
all life, lifelike in a glass display case
9
king
clocks pick at the corpses, his
six swans returned all but their faces
crowd around a corrugated hearth then
the hawk, an ancestry of soliloquy & confl ict
horuses the sun, honor is a pair of bare
hands, feet an invention where
fl esh gives & crooks & would be
queen
her hand is found & is not
returned & she trades her head for her
wings. there are no folktales without
cost. the appearances of choice
she alights & lights, like to
unfurl, diminished to a curl of
all life, lifelike in a glass display case
9
xv
xv
king
his succession of afters
then life, then thought, then
after the wax, the bronze
age, the animals all his
apostrophes, salvationary & quick—
reduce the work of the hands
rely more on air
queen
she writes on him with chalk, so
to possess, as it is decreed
it is well, it is well with my
he is a blackboard, & adjudicated
sold, then gold & parted her imply
to curtsy, determines the genus
clarifi es the smudge on her glasses
8
king
his succession of afters
then life, then thought, then
after the wax, the bronze
age, the animals all his
apostrophes, salvationary & quick—
reduce the work of the hands
rely more on air
queen
she writes on him with chalk, so
to possess, as it is decreed
it is well, it is well with my
he is a blackboard, & adjudicated
sold, then gold & parted her imply
to curtsy, determines the genus
clarifi es the smudge on her glasses
8
xvi
xvi
king
his incline suggests his
listening, arc of an allowed
back, the wishbone assembly
renewal through furniture legs &
spoken softly with a hand to place
tandem living, fascia
of scale. shivers. he takes care
queen
her crown but a cup
of her hands. the divine
weathering profi t just above the ankle
heaven stretching height from the neck &
arms. the embrace of gentility studied
the affected faces on the playing cards (her
previous life as a cello)
7
king
his incline suggests his
listening, arc of an allowed
back, the wishbone assembly
renewal through furniture legs &
spoken softly with a hand to place
tandem living, fascia
of scale. shivers. he takes care
queen
her crown but a cup
of her hands. the divine
weathering profi t just above the ankle
heaven stretching height from the neck &
arms. the embrace of gentility studied
the affected faces on the playing cards (her
previous life as a cello)
7
xvii
xvii
king
certainly the perfected failure
of his song, thin
housing of the tongue, hymn
gleaning from, gleanings perhaps
he collects, then settles in
a matchbox of notes, sins
queen
on a bird instead of an arm
there was only one & more
she says, a pair to ferry, then
what’s this wing for
life on a hinge, she says
life thru a door
6
king
certainly the perfected failure
of his song, thin
housing of the tongue, hymn
gleaning from, gleanings perhaps
he collects, then settles in
a matchbox of notes, sins
queen
on a bird instead of an arm
there was only one & more
she says, a pair to ferry, then
what’s this wing for
life on a hinge, she says
life thru a door
6
xviii
xviii
king
when you come into
your kingdom, he says, remember
the economy of ivy
a series of drawn spades there
will be & she & an hour
cephalous & paradisal the clouds
climb corporately, precisely
queen
she prays thee, given time
she grew into him, &
he into clover, the sun
washed up on the whirl
promises to leap then
a bell without a clasp
the wire of birds
5
king
when you come into
your kingdom, he says, remember
the economy of ivy
a series of drawn spades there
will be & she & an hour
cephalous & paradisal the clouds
climb corporately, precisely
queen
she prays thee, given time
she grew into him, &
he into clover, the sun
washed up on the whirl
promises to leap then
a bell without a clasp
the wire of birds
5
xix
xix
king
his hesitation a lyric
tree: the weight of
a bird too much
& bends lillied truth
an atom continues its bomb
bardment. he stretches toward &
buds sprout from his knuckles
queen
she plays the quotient
cleans the fl owers from her nails
molts hundredness, attains
the study of the meniscus
of the thumb. that the beak is used
for sewing, leads to her
disregard of clothes, numbers—
4
king
his hesitation a lyric
tree: the weight of
a bird too much
& bends lillied truth
an atom continues its bomb
bardment. he stretches toward &
buds sprout from his knuckles
queen
she plays the quotient
cleans the fl owers from her nails
molts hundredness, attains
the study of the meniscus
of the thumb. that the beak is used
for sewing, leads to her
disregard of clothes, numbers—
4
King &QueenTodd Melicker
King &QueenTodd Melicker
King &QueenTodd Melicker
King &QueenTodd Melicker
© Todd Melicker 2012
2nd Printing
LRL little red leaves textile editionswww.littleredleaves.com
Todd Melicker daily wanders the streets of Petaluma, Ca, gathering data as a GPS technician. He would like to thank the editors of the following journals where some of these poems first appeared, Bateau, Chicago Quarterly Review, New American Writing, and Parthenon West Review.
This little red leaves textile series chapbook was lovingly sewn by Dawn Pendergast using recycled and remnant fabrics.
© Todd Melicker 2012
2nd Printing
LRL little red leaves textile editionswww.littleredleaves.com
Todd Melicker daily wanders the streets of Petaluma, Ca, gathering data as a GPS technician. He would like to thank the editors of the following journals where some of these poems first appeared, Bateau, Chicago Quarterly Review, New American Writing, and Parthenon West Review.
This little red leaves textile series chapbook was lovingly sewn by Dawn Pendergast using recycled and remnant fabrics.
KING&QUEENKING&QUEEN
KING&QUEEN
KING&QUEEN
