from "We Do the Polis"
Published in Poem Of The Day
Pent up
in a narrow
compass
and shortened
on every side
by the neigh-
borhood
of walls
These veterans
of future wars
handing out
the PTSD
brieflets
before
the mess
to come
*
Were verbing
swerved
and swayed
into sieves
maneuvering
toward
fissures
in the line
Swallowed
the scare quotes
and choked on
what hung there
in the air
around me
stripped of that
security
*
A field
of intensities
pulse through
a set
of others
coaligned
in throng
song
What poetry
is this
happening
too fast
to count
the syllables
in each throat's
retort
About this Poem
"This excerpt is from a book about Occupy Oakland and related political struggles. It attempts to find forms of representation adequate to the social and affective contents of the historical conjunctures that have sprung up in Oakland, Calif., and elsewhere over the last few years."
-David Buuck
About David Buuck
David Buuck is, along with Juliana Spahr, the coauthor of "An Army of Lovers" (City Lights, 2013). He lives in Oakland, Calif.
***
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day[at]poets.org.
(c) 2014 David Buuck
Distributed by King Features Syndicate
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