. .	All that's left is pattern* (shoes?).               *doubtful reconstruction I rooted about . . . like a . . . . . . . sow* for her pleasure               *atavism: a hieroglyph; perhaps 'a fetal pig,' 'a small pig,' 'goodness' the (power)* for all of [us] !               *perhaps 'damage', if a borrowing; cf. cognate in N. Akkadian: 'skin-burn' I made a mistake. The small path was barely muddy. Little squush;                            and wet socks.* It is (scholarship?) (meditation?)               *modernism. Specificity of attire a problem. Possibly 'underwear' (dryness?) and the . . . . (energy?) the (energy?) the (pig?)* of the [mistake] ! . . . . . .                            (energy?) . . . . . . . .               *hieroglyph again: 'god' may be meant here war/good-ness . . ./cunt* (thresher?)/marvel/cunt*/bright-yellow/                            bright-ochre†/bright-bright-yellow/bright-ochre-yellow/                            bright-yellow-yellow-yellow-ochre-yellow‡ §               *hieroglyph, probably not syllabic. Very old : conceivably haloed by hair—but rake-like, very much the rake in the Kap-Kol-Bak-Silpotli-Wap frieze in the young consort's left hand. (See Ouspenskaya: The Young Consort and the Rake Muckery, Egypt. Annals, Surah, P, P, iii.)               † see Halevy-Cohen, The Prismatic Function in Early Man: a study in Imperceptible Gradations, U. U. Press, Ak., 1922-1962               ‡ analogue of segmented compass readings? as NE, NNE, etc. We know the god Pri-Prik usually assumed yellow guises in his search for the eighteen-fold path. See Marduk, The Babylonians, Hirsute VII., Liber A-413, Tigris.               § The entire sequence is a rare example of restriction of categories in one 'line' or 'cadence' or 'unit' or 'verset.' Only nominal forms used.               the emptying of yellow + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + he calls himself 'with grey horses' he is 'having fine green oxen' with (purpose?) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + in the dream (nightmare?) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + of a sharp blade [testicles] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . for the ground shit (sweat?) upon the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rain upon the . . . . . . . . saliva upon the . . . . . . . . heart's blood upon the . . . . . . . . children's strange (beautiful?) early blood in the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . from the old dryness (underwear?) vomit (yellow?/north?) does not slake ground pus (ochre?/NNE?) does not stanch the wounds in the ground bile (yellow-ochre?/NNNE?) does not + + + + + + + + + + he is splayed on the . . . . . . . . . . . like a worn-out pig (god?) he is un- + + + + + + + + he is dis- + + + + + + + + + + + + he is + + + + + + + + + + +-less he is de- + + + + + + + + + + + he is impossible on the dry ground + + + + + + + + + + before . . . . . . . . . . . . he is non- + + + + + + + + he is pre- + + + + + + + + + + +*               *the isolated prefix remnants are curious. The tablet seems rubbed out with care. Is this segment an early attempt to unite form and meaning? graph- ic as well as substantial emptiness? the ants look (scrounge?) for food the ground-pig (lower god?) sucks dry filth for water the palaces are yellow (vomit/N?) look at the fishermen in their patterns (shoes?) ! they count the directions of emptiness by fish-names N shad E cod S mackerel W tuna from the shad no rain weighs on the breeze from the cod the loud wind is dry (unforgiving?)*               *interesting. We find ourselves at or near the very point in time where the word, concrete in origin, shades off into an abstraction. hanging-mackerel-tail-up-smoke-death*               *virtually untranslatable. This is an attempt at an Indo-European nom- inalization of kili-pap-swad-ur-plonz. We can convey little of the conceptual cat- egory 'fish-death,' rather 'up-down-fish-dying-becoming' which refers in a coterminous visionary metaphysic to both time-bound organisms (like the urus, say) and the Death God, plonz, in his timeless brooding. the tuna is mighty the tuna is mighty the way up-down, smoke-death the men dance around the stone the stones dance over the pit the pits dance beyond bodies like the air-hog (god of low rain-clouds?) the bodies the bodies the bodies the bodies the bodies the bodies beyond the bodies the trees dance the bodies need to fuck the trees the dry (unforgiving?) bodies wait twenty-eight days the blood of the four bodies shad the blood of the four bodies cod the blood of the four bodies mackerel the blood of the four bodies tuna*               *four bodies here; six of them in the previous mention. Odd. they will change the bile they will change the cold pus unless . . . . . . because . . . . . . . fish-death they will-would-might-have-can-change* the winter of NNE               *tense untranslatable; outside Indo-European categories do they destroy the ochre, the sha/shad-cod? do they eat? they wait for the fat pig (god?) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of the great Ones (One)*               *capitalization clearly indicated. The number is in doubt. Is this the pig, or an incredible presage of the early Elohim? + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + pattern (shoes?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copyright © 2004 by Adam Schwerner and Michael Heller Sources and Credits: The Tablets by Armand Schwerner The National Poetry Foundation University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 04469-5752 Copyright © 1999, Estate of Armand Schwerner Michael Heller, Conservator of the Literary Estate of Armand Schwerner; Sylvester Pollet, Associate Editor, National Poetry Foundation This is a cooperative presentation of The Institute for Broken and Reduced Languages And Light and Dust Anthology of Poetry	..