Unknown 27 May 2019

                     (Unknown ~1981-3)


Forgotten face chose
Favourite plaid shirt,
Fresh from the
Wash and fold,
     -Usual features,
     -Centered view, Peter,
     -Duncan, Jim,
     -Staring off;
Showered just before,
Dabbed cologne, brushed teeth,
Changed from jeans
To khakis,
     -Took a stab at head,
     -Neck lines, retouching
     -Pristine face
     -Deflowered;
Unfolded village
Track lines, subway stops,
Sheridan
Square, West 4th,
     -Reoriented
     -Collar, uprooted
     -Placket, stripes
     -Decoupled;
Debated sneakers,
Shoes, perfect weather
To walk through
The Village,
     -Walked around paper
     -Excising limbs, trunk:
     -Circumvent
     -Pedestal;
A Gotham Book Mart
Reading happenstance,
Backed against
An artist,
     -Cradled recumbent
     -'Til smart look preppy,
     -Loosened up,
     -Propped on chair;
Scooched down to retrieve
Dropped book, unprepared
When standing
Unbalanced,
     -Back bolstered hinted
     -Resemblance, tore off
     -A scribbled
     -Phone number;
Dissembled turn on
At invitation
To pose in
Studio,
     -Stammered message on
     -Machine replayed an
     -Out-of-breath
     -Neophyte;
Triple checked details
Left on voicemail, night,
Address, (his,
'Look forward...'),
     -Arts scenes afforded
     -Fresh models, friends' friends,
     -Bar tricks, the
     -More mature;
Legendary cool
Cavorted in stride
Jazzed Village
Regulars,
     -Hedged consequences
     -With brewed regulars,
     -Company
     -Of yes-men;
Backpacker's dopp kit
Contingencies weighed,
Ballast from
Indulgence,
     -Crayoned dispersal
     -Made catalyst for
     -Decisions
     -On the fly;
Industrial fan
Deep fried, screen door sweets,
Wedged, oak door
Barbecue,
     -Turpentine soaked boar,
     -Oiled rags deprived air,
     -Acrylic
     -Reckonings;
Convoluted pitch,
Caribbean skank
Music, slam
Of cab door,
     -Drunk serenaded
     -Boys, dealer cajoled,
     -'Smoke, X, K...'
     -Whoosh in pipes;
Cheeks flushed, sweat rolled from
Armpits, soaked waistband,
Fingers, left
Sticky, wiped,
     -Prickly heat nettled,
     -Confinement staved off
     -Gallerist
     -Effacement;
Philtrum salt licked, skies
Menaced, replete with
Metallic
Downpourings,
     -Acidic, caffeine
     -Fix, penance for sweet,
     -Distilled malt
     -On the rocks;
On the block, tissues
Mopped pedantic gaze
Ivy League
Placarded,
     -Facile discarded,
     -Facial studied hard
     -With velvet
     -Wherewithal;
Descended to sub
Chamber, surveyed for
Jamesian
Fracture lines,
     -Features, abstracted
     -Marks, spatially placed:
     -Eyes; nose; mouth;
     -Sees; breathes; talks;
Worked casually
From across the room,
Looked up and
Registered,
     -Accredited hand,
     -Struck, carried the line,
     -Or borrowed
     -Suggested;
Felt ingested whole,
Concerned about the
End product,
Aftertaste,
     -Comprehended, through
     -Artist's altered state,
     -What sought could
     -Be derived;
Buried secrets which
Worry inflicted
As lines drawn
Around eyes,
     -Furrowed inroads, and
     -Sandpapered surface
     -Figured in
     -Assertions;
Spared lacerations,
When digging beneath
Progressed toward
A portrait,
     -Scratched saturations
     -Sent fireworks of
     -Blues and greens
     -Into ground.

27 May 2019