Ampersand Unbound

Unknotted Ampersand for Craig Conley


*
further reports from the BELIEF CASE draft




1.

the world is everything that is the briefcase

the hinge

shadow and ground
held together

papers inside
a tree


2.

a briefcase
has two faces:

an inside that becomes
an outside

the origami of darkness
many fold
manifold
a handle on a cave
an origami of time as well as space

the face of the briefcase
a butterfly’s face
the face of the briefcase
the planet’s laconic mantle


3.

a ring of briefcases
various alignments

something new
may be sacrificed

a henge

the eyes cast no shadows
but are a place where shadows cast


4.

a lung’s worth of air
an owl’s worth

an archive of sighs
commuted from the mouth

a lake without water
a lake’s worth of water
looking for a bed

the cattle are lowing
the briefcase awaits


5.

evolution expected the briefcase
but was surprised by paper

wave
the briefcaseless hand
clap
the clasps of the hands

hands swim through thought
the infinite wisps of briefcase
the impossible air


6.

what is the difference between
a typewriter and a lion?
a sheep and a briefcase?

driving past the fields:
‘I see the sheep are shorn”

‘at least on the side we see’

‘ah yes. the outside.’


7.

you carry your own landscape

the number of banjos
is up to you


8.
briefcases on the mountain
and the sky split by thunder

night holds the earth by its black handle
and walks

walks slowly
walks home

9.

to human is to Moebius
outside is inside
a squirrel path through the dimensional trees

Comments

I adore the unknotted ampersand, Gary! Remember the "Wooly Willy" toy from the 1950s, with iron filings and a magnetic pen for fashioning beards and hairstyles? I can picture a similar ampersand toy, with magnets on the two ends of the string.
gary barwin said…
Of course I remember the Wooly Willy.

The mind boggles with punctuation playthings: the ellipsis slinky, superbouncy periods, Nerf semi-colons....