Cleaving spicer

Billy the Kid
—for Ron Silliman

“Thinking through the post-avant
Close reading the post-avant
Counter-reading the post-avant”
—Ron Silliman

billy the kid—he’s back again
thanks to jack spicer—and his vocabulary

look at what he’s done—badboy poet
new western zen cowboy—tradition of poetry

new american poetics—out of the closet
thanks to wesleyan press—and robin blaser

thanks to larry eigner—cid corman
thanks to SF—the berkeley renaissance

thanks to—bernstein’s rough trades
thanks to—silliman’s american tree

thanks to—cocteau’s liquid mirror
thanks to—heurtebise’s rolls-royce

thanks to—orphée & his radio
thanks to—sleek motorcycle escort

thanks to—yeats’ honeymoon
thanks to—occult fast train at night

orange groves—and moonlight
between los angeles—san bernardino

yeats making love—to his wife
whispering—to him in tongues

2,000,000 tongues—2,000,000 visits
2,000,000 poets—all the one night stands

then it begins—the dictation verse
see how billy’s groin—oozes honey…