issue54odetothe

                                   ZYGOTE IN MY COFFEE.COM

***BIO*** Ralph-Michael Chiaia--aka RMC, aka Parliament/Ralphadelic, aka the Scruff Daddy, then changed to the In the Buff Daddy (recently changed to Pea Diddy, then Brie Diddy), with his sidekick the Notorious P.O.P.E live on MTV, that'll do: back to the spiel--is a surrealist and realist writer. He has been compared to Italo Calvino, Julio Cortazar, the Yeti, and The Notorious BIG. Check him at his blog: http://rmchiaia.typepad.com or at http://litchaos.com/rmc.html where he is an editor.

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Ode to the & sign (the ampersand)

by Ralph-Michael Chiaia

    don’t limit the light you shed, young matchstick,
    the cosmic brilliance of sun and shine
    chaos and doubt, anxiety and reason
Configure! Configure!
    when it dances it’s hot
of course you knew this, my friend
    so come and see how it has fallen
    this once
relax, open up your ears to this
    sawasdeekap!
4,057 letters in lines
enemy of lines
enemies in lines
enemies waiting in lines
(at the bank or something,
really takes the venom out 'em)
scrolls and conch shells,
    the possibilities are many
    that reading out loud verges into one
    tones change and modulate
    like strung out “and” signs: &&&
three men sitting drinking tea with both hands
perhaps they are under a tree on a hot August day
or in lines with feet shackled in a jail somewhere
getting that bit of sustenance or at a temple
just before prayer time, three Buddhists sipping tea
reading this is touch with its exotic
as that trio; stand and do aerobics
bent over and stretching
while staring in a mirror
    letting the rest of the gym fade out
like blank page
so I thank you, my friend
for staying here with eyes fixed
transfixed linguistic blips
like hip-hop flow going flowing where is goes
though no-one know for sho' where it flows

Dec. 2005