There and back again

Posted by Rich Magahiz Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:32:00 GMT

Do
not
bother
to bring a
toothbrush, or a book –
it’ll be over sooner than that –
but you’ll want a camera and a box of postcards.
And when they bring the tray of drinks
and make you sit up,
make a scene!
They made
us
wait.

Virgin employees sit in the cabin of a prototype Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo spacecraft at the Science Museum on February 14, 2007 in London, England. The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo is destined to be the first ever vehicle for space tourism. The SpaceShipTwo will carry six passengers and two pilots, offering a total flight time of 2 hours. Around 200 firm reservations have been placed already with projected flight costs estimated to be $200,000 per passenger.
Propulsion system for hybrid craft blows up

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Specular reflections

Posted by Rich Magahiz Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:30:00 GMT

addressing
that sweet abyss:
“yes, yes”

shot full of holes, the substance of our dreams

Sklar, Gibson, and Yong –
their lungs full of
something grey…

floors turn into ceilings (halfway there)

still,
she had to go back…
the smell of burning hair

the purple ones are the girls, I think

there, boy, look!
that nebula there
that was your father

I count the stars; each one flares and dims

he tells her
“put on your other face,
the other

flecked with hot sauce: angel wings, deep-fried

text, don’t write:
my senses have taken
leave of me

they took a risk. who remembers them?

the loudest prayer
ever said…

and it was answered

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2008, the Year of Our Lords

Posted by Rich Magahiz Tue, 20 May 2008 13:53:00 GMT

her fat melts away
not the way
she’d intended

bank manager’s desk: a sulphrous haze

as we had been told
our guns were useless,
useless

with rockstar teeth, your friend’s head swivels

pretty roomy inside
and she gets good
parsec-age

mall rat gawks: “that’s what cordwood’s like”

reunited
his strong arms…
that’s not my Daddy

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Ninjutsu No Shoppingtown

Posted by Rich Magahiz Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:33:00 GMT

the wall of the Food Court - stars march up


inside the nail salon: Clan Jade Claws

perched dragon style: the loading dock sleeps

like water they part, Big and Tall Men

escalator down; the swish of bamboo

this septum-pierced punk - you too must fall

naked the sun shines… a lithe dark shape

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The Wolf-Rayet beauty

Posted by Rich Magahiz Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:34:00 GMT

Hot?
Sure,
I’d say
that one’s hot -
entering a room
walls buckle, the lights shift to blue,
sensitive meat seismometers trace out pressure waves,
and spacetime folds bend to accommodate the incarnate representation of ‘hot.’


Hats off to my friend Ian whose comment suggested the image.

Suhail al Muhlif: The brightest O-type star and one of only four WR stars bright enoughto have been observed spectroscopically in UV by COPERNICUS.

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The five stages of middle age

Posted by Rich Magahiz Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:54:00 GMT

I

Matisse,
in his forties,
was years before his peak.
So what’s the rush? I’ve still got loads
of time.

II

Bastard!
that young pipsqueak
doesn’t deserve that car.
I raced Mustangs when he played with
Hot Wheels.

III

Okay,
I’ll lose some weight,
and switch to light beer too.
I’ll show my old lady I’ve still
got it.

IV

Hang on,
maybe there’s a way.
If I could sell this place…
Dammit, what’s the use, who am I
kidding?

V

Ali –
he missed his chance
at gradual decay.
Strange to picture him living to
my age.

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this machinery of grace

Posted by Rich Magahiz Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:45:00 GMT

an outer ring of heck
smelling of
strawberries

her hands full of cloud tissues of scorn

Lee’s redoubt
where dark lines find
their griefs multiply

an ounce of ash and that too soon gone

tender to the bone
our enemies
our hearts’ ease

how long this machinery of grace?

her life list:
a spidery red hand,
then nothing

the sea sucks at the rock… pink-flushed foam

first bacteria
then fungi
kiss their host

the coldest flame: we all wear our pyres

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