Cecil Touchon & Jim Leftwich & Jukka-Pekka Kervinen

before the scrolls of heaven

> break open [a new bottle]. call [a close friend and challenge
> him to a coin] tossup. [place a] wage [your life on it call it
> all to a] halt [the execution of your] cachet. [a frog] leaps
> [after flies in the] gardens [of the royal palace.] dissents [of
> the mosquitoes] sigh [beneath a pink] cameo. [the frog succumbs
> to] greed [gets the better of him and he continues without]
> abate. [in the background musical] notes [are taken by a] lazy
> [scribe full of] guile [looking toward the] omega [point and]
> confirmed the accident [as evidenced by the frog’s] drool. [the
> flies, so vast in number were like a] tumor [that filled his]
> inhale. free [of hunger he sat upon the] plinth [this marked
> his] failure [as the] fervid [arrow] flew [making] haste
> [across the flowered lawn and began to] rotate [as it found its
> mark.] the rack [of torment on his face as it pierced his] torso
> [and he sung a] pirate song [and thought of] okra [and] sewage.
> [the flies were] nimble. [the frog had to] yield!
> [his prey and they flew out of his mouth like] spindrift.
> chief [of the flies ended up trapped in]
> gossamer [like a] lummox [like an] amoeba [in spit but the spit
> of the frog made him slimy and he rode the delicate line like a]
> schuss [into a] cupful [of red wine where a] leech [having
> mistaken it for blood was as drunk as a] custard [made with
> cognac dreaming of] beaches [full of leeches. so the fly began
> to] drink [his tongue] silken [as the wine filled his] aortic
> [cavity and gave him the idea to] flummox [the leech and started
> vibrating his wings at the] the highest rate [an fly had ever
> dreamt of and he flew out the] window [and landed in the fur of
> a] squirrel [who was sitting on the head of a] squire [where he
> nibbled on nuts in the light of the saintly squire’s] nimbus
> [applying] torque to the shells as the squire began to]
> pirouette along [the garden trail. meanwhile a] nuclear [bomb
> exploded during a terrorist attack on Paris leaving the city in]
> wrack [and ruin and the] swivel [of the squire (who was really a
> dervish) slowed a bit as the glow of his nimbus st!
> arted] blazing [brighter as he tried to] hurry away [and
> help the frog dying on the] plinth [whose heart was beginning
> to] fail. [the fly in the squirrel in the blazing glow on the
> head of the dervish like a sultan on a] sedan [the fly could
> not] exhaust [his imagination and had the idea to climb down a
> hair that] droops [from the squire’s head all the way to the
> ground. there was a] rumor [that Paris had fallen] victim [to an
> attack heard from a loud speaker on an overhead] blimp [Paris]
> bakes [it blared but] omitted [to reveal the] full [details and
> moved as slow as a] slug [across the sky and] drew [further away
> at a] rate [too slow to take] heed [of as the squire’s thighs
> [spun. a life long] dissident [the squire wore] camouflage [and
> a] sachet [to hide his distaste for] leeks [and turned round on
> the] rink of the bowling green] fingers tossed [in the air as if
> to say] stop [chasing] lucre [by the] maul [of earth and man
> before the scrolls of heaven] unroll.
>
> Cecil Touchon & Jim Leftwich & Jukka-Pekka Kervinen