Presto Manifesto
I
Exegesis
reach
space bend
time
II
Greater forces
We guess
two dots
three spirals
all paisley
III
I (?)
extended:
know not
place of “man”
IV
Monk,
“Ruby My Dear”
rectify
beauty
circle
the
Fearsome
V
Hand
contortions
She watches
his eyes
Summit
heights
VI
Pens
pour
sacred Words
VII
Bread in Captivity,
release
wander streets
work
dream of Monte Negro
graffiti
the travel store
VIII
Swans escape Nights
in the strange tongue
of childhood
cannot Understand
the nest of I am
IX
Steep
jasmine tea
bitter ignorance
hot
X
lowercase humanity
negative certainty
XI
In black cars
reefer hazes
we whisper smoke rings
the American Dream
XII
Blind Paul
tries
to return the Ocean
XIII
Ignorance of Waters
a typhoon of decline
XIV
Water
viciously couples
with
Destruction
XV
Redwood
Cathedral
light breaks
on fallen
log
blackened Altar
of bark
XVI
River
spectrum
my reflection
is Fool’s Gold
XVII
Spread
ripple circles
make Union
water
Crown
Back
XVIII
Bare
skin
woman
She—and—I grammatically
XIX
We
burn
our bodies
Meerschaum
XX
Born
under
Waters
River Atwood Tabor is a freestyle poet in recovery from his first year at university.
I want to hear this amazing young poet read this live!
I can’t say much other than this is really deep and profound. It’s hard to even understand at certain parts. However, that’s not a bad thing. It’s the equivalent of listening to a philospher. It’s hard to understand at times, but you can tell immediately this man is infinitely knowledgeable.
I feel as if it would be really cool and eye opening for me to hear this live to capture all the emotion, since I am struggling to read this to myself in the way that it probably should be heard. Kind of unrelated but when he talked about “whispering smoke rings
the american dream” It reminded me of The Great Gatsby because it’s about the american dream that we all chase.
I love that this piece is freestyle, yet cohesive. It reminds me of myself when I sit and observe the environment around me, which brings me to state this is definitely a visual piece. Many lines stick out to me. To quote a few;
“XVIII
Bare
skin
woman
She—and—I grammatically
XIX
We
burn
our bodies
Meerschaum”
and
“XI
In black cars
reefer hazes
we whisper smoke rings
the American Dream.”
I guess because I smoke, I feel a connection to these. The first quote, I can feel the burn- literally. It’s a similar process of chemical reactions as to smoking (marijuana), but the visual is beautiful! I picture two body’s intertwined in the shape of a pipe igniting. The second quote is a reminder of living in the land of opportunity, yet you find yourself with nothing better to do than to indulge in the joy of smoking a bowl in a car(many frown upon it). It is communicated to me as an oxymoron. Excellent work! I had a few guesses as to what the Roman numerals stand for, but I would like to hear from the author.
I just recently started reading all of these comments on my poetry and I have to say that yours is my favourite. Also the Roman Numerals have no meaning other than to indicate when I’ve moved on to a new poem, however, I’m curious as to what you thought they meant.
Yours Truly
River Atwood Tabor
Poet/Revolutionary.
I struggled to find the poet’s purpose but it was clearly personal and intimate. I find the phases of life and the continue march and phases of death throughout our life. Thought provoking and breathtaking.
This poem reminded me of a conversation with my brother. The second stanza made me think of men and women as individuals. The dot represents birth and the three spirals are the stages of life. The poem ended with life and I can only assume it’s reincarnation.
This poem is very deep and paints a visual picture of what the poet is trying to say. The rhythm and words used in this poem are intense like my favorite line
“River
spectrum
my reflection
is Fool’s Gold”
It seem’s that he is describing life and different environments he is in. His choice of words are very interesting and personal, even though it is kind of hard to understand them because they are random.
This poem reminds me of nature. Although I’m sure the poet uses them more as metaphors. I found it somewhat hard to read through this piece of writing, I might have not exactly read it how the author intended. However there are some things that stuck to me and reminded me even of my own goals and others too, we all fall for the American Dream. And then stanza XVI killed me just a little. It reminded me of failure and having to come to the realization of things. This poem is a true piece of art.
X
In black cars
reefer hazes
we whisper smoke rings
the American Dream
XVI
River
Spectrum
My reflection
Is fools gold
I think it would be great to hear this read aloud. I like that it seemed like it was really deep and insightful but I had a tough time actually comprehending it.
It was kind of difficult for me to understand some parts of this poem. But it seems to me like it is very deep and personal. A little emotional. It seems like he is talking about a woman in some parts. I would also like to know what the roman numerals stand for.
“Ruby My Dear”
rectify
beauty
circle
the
Fearsome
V
Hand
contortions
She watches
his eyes
I struggled to understand many parts in this freestyle poem. The part I liked was …
XVIII
Bare
skin
woman
She—and—I grammatically
This could relate to a man and a women holding each other closely and being connected as one.
XX
Born
under
Waters
I took this as all babies are born under waters until they leave the womb and they are no longer in water, unless you are in a tub.
I would like to see this poet live as he recites this poem in action. This may be something personal he has experience or observed in his life.
The poet’s literature is very unique and powerful. I have read the poem a few times and I am still scratching my head on some lines. I don’t think I am reading the assertions as the poet’s own assertions. It would be nice to hear the poet read this poem so we can see him express his feelings directly.
This is poem, like almost everyone else has said, is hard to understand. Especially me because I usually do not read poems. However, it is very visual and alluring. It talks about separate subjects however they are all related. It is beautifully written and definitely a work of art.
http://www.infocenters.co.il/gfh/multimedia/Photos/Idea/29209.jpg
XIX
Growing up around older people, I was exposed to many of past hardships. One of my grandmother’s dear friends was a Holocaust survivor, around the time she pass or a middle before I had in World War II project to due. Naturally I asked her questions, I feel if I was little bit younger than I asked these questions she wouldn’t have been so unforgiving with the facts. This poem brings up many of the details described to me, from watching people being burned alive her expressions as she explains to me will always be embedded in my mind.
We
burn
our bodies
was something similar she said.
Reading this poem and growing up with only a brother feelings were not expressed. I felt compeled that his well the poet expressing his feelings and while interpreting this at some points not sure if it was him or a women. Speaking of reiencarnation in our assignments test and surveys this week my brain may have wondered into the senario of the poet as translated. Inverted perhaps into the two sexes. Staying and focusing on the poem I didn’t get the roman numerals. It is late however.
Regrets to not attending the poetry contest as I underwent surgery and I was so looking forward to understang poetry crossing off the calander was a filled anxiety attack.
This piece is very deep with heavy existential overtones that offer a peek into the author’s internal reflections while remaining vague enough to allow the reader to reflect on their own existence. The poem in itself is very powerful, but as others have noted, I believe the delivery would add an additional dimension that would take this piece to another level of impact on the audience.
I found this poem somewhat hard for me to understand what the purpose the poet was trying to write about. Yet, I felt that different parts contributed to different times in history. For example, when he talked about the smoke, car, and the “American Dream” I began to think of the 1920’s and the new era for America.
I have to admit that it was very difficult for my to understand and follow, but I did feel a connection to spirituality and nature and being completely in tune and connected with it all.
Some parts of the poem were difficult to understand. It seemed like it was very personal to him. I think his poem is about him meeting a girl and they start a family together. They see it as they have the perfect life, the American Dream. It was different but I liked it because it seems very deep.
I truly wish I could hear his verbal interpretation of this poem. As I read it, I have a range of emotions overcome me. I found myself searching for meaning not only in his words, but in area of my own life. Wonderfully profound.
I believed the poets message to this poem was a little confusing and hard to gasp. Although, I do feel this poem in way is written as a “rhyme scheme”. For example, in his poem he mentioned this part “River spectrum my reflection is Fool’s Gold” I noticed it’s almost a AABB rhyme scheme pattern. River matches with my reflection and spectrum and elaborate a “fool’s gold”.
I personally didn’t understand half of this poem. As you read the poem, you feel the personal touch that the writer is expressing. I do feel as if the poem is talking about life and how one experiences it. I feel as if the author is telling us about an experience he encountered while walking around in a busy, city.
Stanza VII & VIII “Bread in Captivity,
release
wander streets
work
dream of Monte Negro
graffiti
the travel store”
“VIII
Swans escape Nights
in the strange tongue
of childhood
cannot Understand
the nest of I am”
I think the author is speaking about possibly being sheltered all his life and he’s finally able to go out and explore the world through his eyes and the way he wants to by wandering the streets, because the only way to experience life is to walk the streets and see where life takes you. You have to see things for yourself to experience it. The author goes on to further explain the experiences he has while wandering; sees people smoking in cars as they pass him by, he probably sees a homeless blind man on the street begging and when he says “ignorance of waters, a typhoon of decline” could be referring to being on a busy sidewalk where people just walk by and ignore those who are homeless. The author’s work is freestyle which makes it a little more difficult for most to understand because there isn’t a construct rythmn, it follows one train of thought, and it doesn’t have any traditional stanzas. It’s based off of metaphors, similies, and other literary devices that help bring out the message of what the author is trying to express. For me, this poem did have many parts of it that I did not understand as clearly as other parts but overall, after reading it a few times, I did end up really liking this freestyle poem.
This poem is cryptic to the point where I believe that the grand majority of readers cannot understand or relate to it. Every so often, a stanza appears that is slightly more accessible, but for the most part, it strongly reminds me of a string of Ezra Pound pieces with its abrupt vagueness.
I loved how this poem swayed from being super straightforward to being very abstract, all the while sustaining a profound prospective of the world. In our culture, we tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to our environment. While reading this poem, I imagined a bunch of businessmen dressed up in navy suits, red ties, and starched white button downs walking down a city sidewalk on their way home from work. But even in such a cookie-cutter environment, there are still dark feelings and feelings of love. We are all just oblivious and in our own minds. This is such a unique poem. His insight is very intriguing.
I thought this was great. At first, reading through it I had no idea how or what any of the phrases had to do with each other. I still don’t, but something about
Pens
Pour
Sacred Swords
caught my immediate attention. I got the sense that what we write to each other often causes fights, such as social media posts. Poetry has never been something I have been good at doing myself, or even understanding, but this poem gets you thinking. It certainly made me think outside the box.
I love the free style in this poem. The author sounds to be so free willing and a free sprit. This poem reminded me about myself when I was a little girl, not having a care in the world because I didn’t know any better too have a care.
“We
burn
our bodies
Meerschaum
XX
Born
under
Waters”
I have always loved being in the water because it made me feel alive.
This is a Poem that I can read over and over, and every time find something new. This is very interesting, captivating and beautiful.
This Poem is interesting in that I think it can relate to many people at different times in their life. As our life changes over time so does our connection and understanding of the poem.
I met
Nietzsche
while he
wrapped his
arms
around the
wellknown horse
looking
into an animal’s
eye
travelling on his way to
deep madness
Helfried! wonderful poem!
Maria! I send greetings from old Germany 🙂 ! I was inspired by River’s poem and got a burst of new spontaneous Haiku’s, here’s another one, please enjoy. Maria love’s words – great place.
Haiku “my time – I ”
I
the collector
tranforming old books into dust
feeding the worm with ancient words
making the sheet scrambled and yellow
this is happening inside the board
it’s just time
my time
I
Helfried! You are my blog’s best contributor. please keep sending your haiku’s. River and I were talking about them today, he thinks they are brilliant! xom
Approaching Frankenstein –
Experiment #No.1
One
night
I shortcut
a huge battery of Leyden’s capacitors
the spark lightend the night
recognizing
a little universe was born
only
a view nano seconds
but
pulsating
I love this poem so much! A universe in a nano second-beautiful image!
Obviously japanese Haiku’s have to follow the 5-7-5 pattern – so my Haiku’s are freestyle. Here’s another one for my friends overseas
Remember the day
remember
whenever you hear the far and subtle
meow
it was einsteins cat
lost in the
dumbwaiter
on a bright and smiling
nuclear day
Helfried! Haikus can be anything we want. we are the creators of these universes after all!
Maria! Many thanks!
Now here comes one I like very much, it’s a new Haiku compilation of a Dada poem which I’ve written in the early ninetes.
Urban / Urban Chrysler Building Compilation
The Casual Way
Tracked via sunny money
I entered the casino
convoyed by the sound of Rat Pack
stepped off my black car
Life was a spume – is a spume
Oh my god, when sheer youth is steering
you will be able to survive
tumble down all decades and floors of
the Chrysler Building
You will get up Manhattan Lexington Ave
between hooting cars
and buy a newspaper in a casual way –
wearing a dirty black hat
ã H. Urban
X-Mas Burst from Helfried…
Urban / Urban Chrysler Building Compilation
The Casual Way
Tracked via sunny money
I entered the casino
convoyed by the sound of Rat Pack
stepped off my black car
Life was a spume – is a spume
Oh my god, when sheer youth is steering
you will be able to survive
tumble down all decades and floors of the Chrysler Building
You will get up Manhattan Lexington Ave between hooting cars
and buy a newspaper in a casual way – wearing a dirty black hat
ã H. Urban
Approaching Frankenstein – Experiment #2
Master’s Voice
getting tuned to the globe
via special transmitter
he was able to talk
to mother earth – her majesty itself
how are you
was the shy question
using a rumpling low frequency
the answer was located
north north west in deep sea
only recognized by dolfins
H. Urban
helfried,
as always i am stunned by your collage of images. keep them coming!
love,
maria
Echo from the happy new year 2016 to my small but steady Haiku community at this hidden place
Kryptonate Compilation
Inside
they found
some Kryptonate
they told to the daily press
it seems smelling like liquid lead
and transmit a blue glow
they reported
to the daily
press