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An
international online magazine that
publishes Surrealist poetry
in English.
Issue Three
ALEX VARTAN GUBBINS
Let's Assume the Tune as Tinkerer
Let's
assume many miles to town. Let's round the curves
Let's assume it is farm & hill & church
Let's assume the cow, the fence, the graze, the tail slap
Let's assume the map is bumpy, uncoordinated, like a dumpy marking, derelict of
truing the what we see & how it's done
Let's assume tuning-in to trendy radio, the guitar & twang, the rests of movement for
moments of yield signs, of nirvana in nonsense & cadavers on tables with frogs
Let's assume the news is washed & reconnoitered with haughty guns. Let's assume
the culture is for bullet, is for deer, is for truck & loud stereo, is for defense &
pride for an unknown & un-aim at apocalypse
Let's assume the choir's made-up of make-up & overalls & name calling & hauling
the weak into hallways
Let's assume the music's tune's at a volume over fists & beating, the weak's tune, the
how inferior contests the muscle's design, the way a time has laid a context of
bricks to build these muscles, to stack the agony, the anger that networks tools to
maintain its house. But now
Let the tune contest the gas guzzling machines, the country republic, the source for
domination over soil & stream, over opponents that resist the over & against, &
against the taring
The tune will contest the fence, the order of over, direct the teachings of shoulder
bumping, of tailgating, of abuse with stares & gossip
The tune will contest the benchmark of un-education, the de- to educate, to degenerate the progress in progressive, the code in civil, of the mode in acting even, of
allowing for the sake of allowing, an openness to open, to be felt
The tune will contest the anger's seeking, to de- the weak, to de-fund, to de-friend,
to de-active, to de-what has been scrutinized in identifying simplicity's grip on
violence, on the open, or the inside of domestic spaces, or of spaces when
encounter is given an en-
The tune'll contest the random spasmodic, whether uncalculated, whether an
expression of inconsiderate behavior, the indecency delineated only under breath,
between he uncommons, around the side of abandoned barns & forgotten hedges
The tune'll ex- its will, the tune'll contest with will, the rising to occasion, as cryptic
& as hidden are curbed at a will, as the outward crutch, the hinder, the speaking
softly & slowly, the morning mourning, the less than prominent competition with
domineering
It's the tune that contests the lack of listening, contests the speech of Winchester &
Remington, the articulation in black powder & primers, how load & lock are
aggressive sounds, how defend is normally fend, normalized to contend equanimity
It's the tune that doesn't pretend to tend, but does, does assess to consider, does
address the withered petals, does obsess over composure for fellow person, for
frequent words to kinder spirits, to dampen fear of furious, to off the charge of
hurting, & to replace
This tune of the retreated, as not rehabilitated but habitually vertical, not fictionally
valuable but a doer that'll re-do the system casted in sameness, in symmetry, an
assimilation of into & divided into loneliness, unless the greater culture's taken-in
& harnessed
Let's assume it is farm & hill & church
Let's assume the cow, the fence, the graze, the tail slap
Let's assume the map is bumpy, uncoordinated, like a dumpy marking, derelict of
truing the what we see & how it's done
Let's assume tuning-in to trendy radio, the guitar & twang, the rests of movement for
moments of yield signs, of nirvana in nonsense & cadavers on tables with frogs
Let's assume the news is washed & reconnoitered with haughty guns. Let's assume
the culture is for bullet, is for deer, is for truck & loud stereo, is for defense &
pride for an unknown & un-aim at apocalypse
Let's assume the choir's made-up of make-up & overalls & name calling & hauling
the weak into hallways
Let's assume the music's tune's at a volume over fists & beating, the weak's tune, the
how inferior contests the muscle's design, the way a time has laid a context of
bricks to build these muscles, to stack the agony, the anger that networks tools to
maintain its house. But now
Let the tune contest the gas guzzling machines, the country republic, the source for
domination over soil & stream, over opponents that resist the over & against, &
against the taring
The tune will contest the fence, the order of over, direct the teachings of shoulder
bumping, of tailgating, of abuse with stares & gossip
The tune will contest the benchmark of un-education, the de- to educate, to degenerate the progress in progressive, the code in civil, of the mode in acting even, of
allowing for the sake of allowing, an openness to open, to be felt
The tune will contest the anger's seeking, to de- the weak, to de-fund, to de-friend,
to de-active, to de-what has been scrutinized in identifying simplicity's grip on
violence, on the open, or the inside of domestic spaces, or of spaces when
encounter is given an en-
The tune'll contest the random spasmodic, whether uncalculated, whether an
expression of inconsiderate behavior, the indecency delineated only under breath,
between he uncommons, around the side of abandoned barns & forgotten hedges
The tune'll ex- its will, the tune'll contest with will, the rising to occasion, as cryptic
& as hidden are curbed at a will, as the outward crutch, the hinder, the speaking
softly & slowly, the morning mourning, the less than prominent competition with
domineering
It's the tune that contests the lack of listening, contests the speech of Winchester &
Remington, the articulation in black powder & primers, how load & lock are
aggressive sounds, how defend is normally fend, normalized to contend equanimity
It's the tune that doesn't pretend to tend, but does, does assess to consider, does
address the withered petals, does obsess over composure for fellow person, for
frequent words to kinder spirits, to dampen fear of furious, to off the charge of
hurting, & to replace
This tune of the retreated, as not rehabilitated but habitually vertical, not fictionally
valuable but a doer that'll re-do the system casted in sameness, in symmetry, an
assimilation of into & divided into loneliness, unless the greater culture's taken-in
& harnessed
Alex Vartan Gubbins was born in Chicago. He has a BA in African Languages and Literature from University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MFA from Northern Michigan University. His recent work has been published in Split Rock Review, The Tishman Review, Masque & Spectacle, By & By Poets, and Bird's Thumb. He taught English and Poetry in Qatar for two years (2014–2016) and is now poet-in-residence at Akos Cultural NGO in Yerevan, Armenia.
