Illuminated Ink

Edited by Susan Brennan

Maya, the Hindu deity who creates the shells of what we daily mistake as reality, is constantly polishing her illusionary spell. Poets gaze inside the shells and encode the eternal wildernesses just beyond surface reality. Yuko Otomo and steve dalichinsky are two poets, two seers in cahoots with illusion, transcending with sonic visions.

chris connor 2

1.
we’ll be together
again was
one
here now in this wilderness
she seemed vaguely like someone i knew
once who laughed at hair clipped too close
i wished
it is after all a miserly thing
nothing to say i’ll draw you a pic-
ture therein the wilderness
where rumors abound
rumors of wealth founded not
founded or what’s it matter which a matter
wisdom of det word file
she looked almost like someone i didn’t know
hair longer now ( fempriest )
old standards sung & forgotten
it’s all his there in the wilderness 2 blind people
on their bellies crawling in the rain
hands searching for them-
selves

2.
it was very difficult to leave the sky behind today
i kept turning around to catch it
why am i the only person walking backward/
first time i ever saw a squashed squirrel
lower east side church spire mirroring itself
first time
i wonder why no one else is looking up
dead squirrel
n.y.c. roadkill
why is no one else walking backward
a voice that never talks to me inter-
rupts my .....”taking notes?”
- the sky - useless chitchat........the sky
weaving thru the sensible garbage lining the curb
i bang my head on the coming grays
sunset in this town is for survivors
if i hold on long enough
i’ll find out

~ steve dalachinsky

steve dalachinsky’s work has appeared extensively in journals and anthologies. He has collaborated with various acclaimed musicians. His most recent chapbooks include Musicology (Editions Pioche, Paris 2005), Trial and Error in Paris (Loudmouth Collective 2003), Lautreamont’s Laments (Furniture Press 2005), In Glorious Black and White (Ugly Duckling Presse 2005), and his PEN Award winning book The Final Nite (complete notes from a Charles Gayle Notebook, Ugly Duckling Presse 2006). His latest CD is Phenomena of Interference, a collaboration with pianist Matthew Shipp (Hopscotch Records 2005).

The Supper at Emmaus:
Tremendous Naturalezza

After the resurrection,
he casts a shadow
in light.
The room
is dark
with a gray cloudy floor.
I see a cornered void
of the scene
together
in amazement
with 3 protagonists.
A basket of fruits
meat on a plate,
bread, wine & water,
solid & unshakable,
evidence of this
tremendous reality
tells the story
of resurrected flesh.
What words
are breathing out
from your closed mouth?
Acclaiming his faith
in the ability
to express
reality around him
without stylistic structures,
an artist
wakes up
to another reality
shot suddenly
by a dart of a closing call
coming from
nowhere.

~Yuko Otomo

Yuko Otomo writes haiku, art criticism & essays. She has read in St. Mark’s Poetry Project, Tribes, Bowery Poetry Club, ABC No Rio, La Mama, NY Public Library, Knitting Factory etc & in Japan, France & Germany. Her latest publication includes ”Small Poems”, ”The Hand of The Poet” (both from Ugly Duckling Presse) & “A Sunday afternoon on the isle of museum” ”Fragile” (both from Sisyphus Press). Her books include Garden: Selected Haiku (Beehive Press), Small Poems, The Hand of the Poet (by Ugly Duckling Presse), Cornell box Poems, Genesis, Fragile (by Sisyphus Press).