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Spiral Chambers Issue 06
SPIRAL CHAMBERS ONLINE
March, 1996
Issue #6
**********
*CONTENTS*
**********
Introduction ...Section 1
"Black Light"
by John Tynes ...Section 2
"to ryan, or to the boy with the philosophy that being naked is ok"
by Brandi McElhatten ...Section 3
"A Question of Thirteen Seconds"
by Richard Fein ...Section 4
"Live by the Style"
by Ben Ohmart ...Section 5
General Info About Spiral Chambers ...Section 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spiral Chambers, issue 6, volume 1. Published monthly by the PSK Publishing
Company, P.O. Box 772, Mentor, Ohio 44061. Copyright 1995 by the PSK
Publishing Company. All works herein may be reprinted. In fact, reproduction
of this electronic publication is encouraged, so long as the works are not
altered in any way, shape or form and credit is given to both Spiral Chambers
and the work's respective author. For information on reproduction rights,
submission guidelines, subscription information or for general inquiries,
write to: Spiral Chambers, P.O. Box 772, Mentor, Ohio 44061. Over the
internet: repsisk@aol.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**********
*Section 1*
***********************
INTRODUCTION
--------
After nearly two years of continuous service, I am sad to report that
Spiral Chambers, the syndicated poetry column for small-press publications,
has been placed on indefinite hiatus. The decision was predominantly a
monetary one. Poetry is not a lucrative field, especially when done on a
small-press scale. While the column in itself was not devouring funds, the
time required to maintain the operation was substantial, translating into a
loss of opportunity for me. Time is money, thus the decision was made to
place the column on hiatus until either adequate funding may be found or
sufficient time is allocated.
Although Spiral Chambers has been placed on indefinite hiatus, PSK
Publishing is in production on a web page that will feature past installments
of the column. This web page will not only offer the opportunity to access
Spiral Chambers at the reader's leisure, but also act as a complete location
for small-press publications to continue using the column, despite the
hiatus.
In addition to the web page, in late 1996 PSK Publishing has scheduled to
produce an anthology, collecting all the poetry that has been printed in
Spiral Chambers over the last two years. Due to the high volume of top
quality poetry that was slated to appear but never made its debut, this
anthology, tentatively titled "Spiral Chambers" in commemoration, shall
feature over 36 new poems that have never appeared in the column. Collecting
both never before seen poetry and the acclaimed works that were used in the
past, the book "Spiral Chambers" is a must for both new and old fans of the
column. The anthology shall be offered on the PSK web page and through select
booksellers. If you are interested in the book or our web page, drop PSK
Publishing a note and we'll keep you up to date on their developments.
Spiral Chambers would like to thank all the editors, poets and readers of
the column for their support of the project. It is my hope, although this is
the last installment, that the column helped to contribute to the sustenance
and growth of the poetry medium. Without delving into sentimentality, I bit
you a fond adieu.
The poetically inclined,
Peter Scott
**********
*Section 2*
***********************
"Black Light"
--------
by John Tynes
Her face in the purple glow
when I kissed her,
pulled back,
lids heavy
lips parted
she would breathe,
once
open her eyes in the hopes
of possibility
but find only me.
"I know,"
she said,
"you don't feel what I feel
when we kiss."
I looked inside myself
felt around my dusty corners
rummaged through trunks
of unused, withered emotions
hoping for possibility
finding bare compassion
or charity
or simple friendship
but nothing more.
"It could all be so right,"
I said to myself,
"I could hold her all night."
I did anyway. Warmth
in the narrow bed
too short for either of us.
Her body full of energy
and passion
at my touch
a bare touch
she went over
and over and over
'til she was shaking
looked in my face
some mute supplicant
biting back words
in the purple light.
"Sometimes
I say things in my sleep,"
she was saying,
"even hold entire conversations
I won't recall in the morning."
Her words sounded like a
precaution.
I knew what they led to.
Sure enough,
late in the night I heard her speak.
"I love you,"
she said.
"I know,"
I told her, and held her close.
"I understand."
Thinking of one I told of my love
who could not return it
these three years gone by
(I still ache for her,
talk gladly by phone,
it lets me pretend.)
She left calmly, happily,
not a scene.
Said she hoped to return,
I said the same,
truthfully,
but it wasn't the same.
"How could you want
a troglodyte like me,"
she'd said.
I hated hearing that.
She was beautiful,
pale as the moon,
a creature of autumn
and bonfires before old gods.
I told her how beautiful she was.
She was skeptical,
insecure,
self-conscious.
It hurt me to see her so,
in the place where once I'd been
and visited still, at times.
It hurt me that I could not,
did not,
love her,
for fear it would keep her
in that low place.
"I love you,"
she'd said.
I wanted to cry. No tears came.
**********
*Section 3*
***********************
"to ryan, or to the boy with the philosophy that being naked is ok"
--------
by Brandi McElhatten
I think I was just chasing a shadow,
it made me laugh to think
that the shadow could be you.
I have a certain notion about your shadow,
that is, every time you depart it seems
you forget and leave your shadow with me.
That shadow runs around and causes trouble
and I can never catch it.
Sometimes it is quiet and waits below the surface
for a certain topic to be brought up.
Then it perks up and is present again,
by my side, in my mind.
That shadow stays the same, while you yourself change.
And when you come back the shadow
has no place to go.
So I keep it with me always.
And it makes me laugh to think
that last I saw you,
I thought I saw my shadow, in you.
**********
*Section 4*
***********************
"A Question of Thirteen Seconds"
--------
by Richard Fein
"After your head is cut off by a guillotine
you have 13 seconds of consciousnessx
13 seconds is the amount ofxenergyx
in the brain to keep goingxnot only can you blink,
but you can do two for yes and one for no;
and it is said to have been done."
-Dr. Ron Wright, Chief Medical Examiner
Broward County Florida.
Now no pardon is possible, even from God.
Now the wind in the lungs will be forever stagnant.
Now the lungs themselves will dissolve.
Now the Platonic ideal of mind free of body is
almost realized.
What is proper etiquette for you-the executioner-
when all the condemned's debts have just been paid?
What to do for the already but not yet dead
at this socially awkward moment?
Are you, at last, forgiving?
Do you pick up the head by the hair?
Do you stroke a pale cheek?
Do you allow a loved one to approach and kiss?
Do you hold up a mirror?
Do you torture the eyelids with a question?
There is time for one.
What would you want to know?
Does the being at your feet know the answer?
Or does the faintest consciousness blind one to what comes after?
What lies ahead-is it evening darkness or high noon blaze?
Do you ask if it's comfortable?
Is it now an it?
Think of something fast.
What is the professional thing to do?
Be silent? Be curious? Smile? Cry? Look away?
Sing a hymn?
Or leave the head in the bloody bucket,
and let the eyes glaze in a screamless terror?
**********
*Section 5*
***********************
"Live by the Style"
--------
by Ben Ohmart
i think squinting is cool
you think smoking is cool
he thinks drinking drugs or
drugging drinks is cool
we think that angst is cool
you think disagreeing with the
height of popularity is cool
they think dying is cool
because there are so many cool dead guys.
**********
*Section 6*
***********************
SPIRAL CHAMBERS
--------
Spiral Chambers is a syndicated poetry column that is distributed without
charge to magazines of various degrees in size and content. Conceived in July
of 1994, Spiral Chambers endeavors to unite the publisher with the artist,
forming an interdependent bond where both profit from the other's success.
Published monthly, Spiral Chambers offers small-press publications free
poetry without having to search and advertise for poets, weed through
mountains of marginal submissions or even create the page layout. The poet,
on the other hand, gets an instant world-wide audience, has their work
broadcast to diverse cultural circles and bypasses the hassle of finding and
sending their work to hundreds of publications. All parties profit and grow
simultaneously from Spiral Chambers. This E-zine is offered as an electronic
venue for the column. Help us grow: Tell your friends about Spiral Chambers!
For complete guidelines, write to: repsisk@aol.com
