Trevor Joyce

from THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE

incursions

of a hunting

king

enemy
assaults

voracious

birds and

insects

onslaughts

of wind

rain drought
or flood

entering

abruptly

at one

horizon

exiting

haphazardly

there is now

no appetite

for such 

calamities

in actuarial

circles

fundamental
unsettling

fortifies

those born during

the war were

the true leaders

earlier were broken

by regret

later spoiled

never allow

the state

of things settle

imperfectly

now that cohort

is exhausted

we require further

enormities

prognosticators

bring you

cedarwood

the widow

offers roasted

flour

poor folk
give oil

the wealthy

farmer from

his flock

selects

a lamb

all these

to praise you

that you may

skew the

probabilities

fix the game

virtuosos

of the funerary

sacrificial

diplomatic

and hospitable

arts

equilibrists

of lover

and beloved

exact their game

from the chaos

of wild potentialities

the true fan

anticipates

each variation

rush reserve

the client nods

and pays

an immense

force

somewhere

out there

driving grit

into and against

the structures

the room filled

with the green

stench of dust

and sand

inside doors

thudded in

their frames

with the violent

alterations

in pressure

© Mark Weiss

Trevor Joyce's most recent book is Courts of Air and Earth (Shearsman, Bristol UK). Rome's Wreck and The Immediate Future are both due shortly, from Cusp Books (Los Angeles) and RunAmok Press (Cork), respectively. He is the founder of the SoundEye Festival in Cork, Ireland, where he's usually to be found when he's not in Leamington Spa, England.