by Paul Blackburn
When the door of the next truck is open
it reads toward the cab
—Z E N T A B L E S, the black dog
leaps on the man in pure
friendliness—he only wants to leave. .
8 seats to a table
except one side of one table, only 3
the cigarette machine sits
makes its change
6 tables then
seating 47 deathsheads, the luncheon hour . Packed , a man
with a 100 lb. sack of cement walks past . The Modern World e-
merges
/
124 Warren Street, sayeth the truckside
—Z E N T A B L E S—
The truck door closes
Driver climbs in : ,
The truck departs .
The hot cat
heads toward the door tail up, the black dog barks, the first of the
7 white dogs I .
meet on this mountain
greets me
'mid a rain of pebbles & dirt .
"—and the an-gels sing,
& leave
their singing
ringing in
my
ears ."
[1963/1965]
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ABOUT THE POET ~
Paul Blackburn is best known as a Black Mountain Poet because of his role as contributing editor and distributor of the Black Mountain Review: and his subsequent inclusion with the group in Donald Allen’s influential New American Poetry anthology (1960). Many unaware writers and critics fail to discern the complex forms, the sly intelligence, and the reserved elegance of that lyrical gift.... Blackburn was as socially and literarily accessible as lesser poets, and yet he was cut from the fabric of genius.
Last updated December 24, 2014