in transigent lots

[mindbum]

tom--

the car alarm stopped for a moment.
i thought it might be over.
it reset
& assaults
my measly concentration.

it's worse than a mealy apple.
it'd take at least a couple worms
to make an apple as bad
as a car alarm
when yr thinking
or sleeping.

i ws thinking
abt yr book.

it's big
&
green,
in case you've forgotten.

not that i've been reading it
or that i remember what
was happening when i stopt.

have i ever read anything
fully that long?

probably not.

even if you pile up
all the xmen i've ever read
tho it might compare in page count
perhaps surpass, surpass perhaps,

no matter how verbose the letters page
no mater how wordy the criminal superstar athlete
twinkling sneaker bubble gume tee-ball advertizements

no way it makes as many words.

i've been reading basho
there's a great little poem about octopi
under the last night of the summer moon.

autumn's come to brooklyn
i can wear a jacket
that greatly increases
my pocket count
and i can carry a paperback
or a sheaf of papers
in a pocket
b.c the prospect
of groggily waiting in line
for coffee in the morning
with nothing to do
seems more ponderous
than eastern european cinema

in transigent lots,
a

[joel]

i ws thinking
abt yr book.

In case I've forgotten
abt th book
(not my book,
Tom's)

I havnt

I've gotten 4 of thm &
read excrpts from each 1

41 days in th wildrnss

(an xtra day 4 good measure
tht must've worked
bcause I 1 the lttry over breakfast
when I came out)

41 daze started in summer
and crost the Hudson rvr into fall--
not to get to Brooklyn...
Connecticut instead

and I kneaded all 4 copies of Tom's book
to quilt togthr 1 whole blanket of the story
as a remix inspiration 4 my 1 endpoint novel idea

and I'd like Tom
to proofread whn I'm done
bcause I wrte this 1 4 him
the way I thought he might like it

and if he wants,
please tell him he can spike it
and serve it as a remixed drnk
n e time he wants

thn again...
dont bother--
I shouldnt ask as if
yr my secretary

I'll d lv r

[mindbum]

most valourous tom,

how do i know yr valorous
anyway?

well,
we've all got to
have things
to hope for.

i have the idea
that maybe if i could fold
other texts into yr book
it might strike the chord
required to impell me
to pick the damn thing up.

if we cutup all i've read
since the last time
i read yr book

it'd be longer, heavier
& come with
a fuckload more pictures.

what if ye've writ
the last great long novel
of only words
& no pictures
& i cant finish it?

from here on out
it's animated electronic comicbooks
that tell the gov't exactly what you read
& record yr brainwaves
so to know
what parts you liked best
& what secret frightens.

what if i can't finish?

i've put it off
long enough
but i've never really been worried
i wouldn't finish.

ofttimes with long books
& the best books no matter the length
you wanto it to continue.

no end.

if i cld find 'you can't win'
by jack black i'd fold that in.
salt chunk mary belongs
in yr book
if she isnt already walking by
in a scene i havent seen.

kirby cld do us all some gd,
add some choose yr own adventures,
yellah spined daw scifi paperbacks,
& gil blas b.c i'll never read it.

it'd take an xacto, glues, typewriters,
inks, needle & thread,
a button or two.

i can't put in a zipper.
no machine.

in creasing texts,
a


ps- today, the line for coffee
ws all the way to the door.

i stood there for a moment,
shook my head,
& walkt the extra blocks
for deli coffee quicker.

on the way,
just past the hardware store
ws that guy selling books.

he acted like he
didnt know what i meant
when i told him i
wanted cheap things
in crappy condition
to cut up.

but then he sd he'd
cut up many a perfectly fine book
for art or cutting up.

he ws an ass.

i bought a dover reprint
heck's illustrated guide
to science & nature
the guy sd ws cheap.
8 bucks.

when i got home
i woke meehow
with the typewriter
as he slept on the livingroom floor
he asked if i cld be any louder
i sd in a little while.

[joel]

how do i know yr valorous
anyway?

well,
we've all got to
have things
to hope for.

he asked if i cld be any louder
i sd in a little while.

coffee and cheap rd wine—
I nvr get away
without a split-brain kopfschmerz
but I drnk thm n e way

that’s less valor
than stupidity

but I like the taste
and figure may
be this time’s the time I’ll be
pain free
happily

it’s like yr echo boomerang
we've all got to
have things
to hope for

or is tht too
less valor
than stupidity?

My great nvl idea—
Mine will be the wrdless nvl—
one thousnd pages of pctrs
arranged by hnd,
rppd from colors out of oldr books
and pastd silntly.

No 1’s gonna ask me
2 be quietr
—they’ll ask 4 sound
and I’ll thn ask thm:

what sound do u think
these pctrs need to be
more valorous?

[Totenkopf]

kirby cld do us all some gd,
add some choose yr own adventures,
yellah spined daw scifi paperbacks,
& gil blas b.c i'll never read it.

This is not so horrible--yet not quite having attained to the vision of...................The Bowerbird.

[mindbum]

not bad for spontaneity.

thanks for the reading.

i just read the first volume of the 'jack kirby fourth world omnibus' writ, drawn & edited by king kirby himself. wow is he amazing.