Tarlton Law Library
Jamail Center for Legal Research

i too have sought time and again to live
deliberately    to discover some only slightly
separate place and live there with deliberation
   and so make a fresh start    this per-
petually the dream of    so we delude ourselves
this ever beginning nation    to feel
my figure and yours as but one advancing upon the horizon
from below pressed by history and from above
by heaven    when thou risest up and
when thou liest down    a city upon a hill

Nature of "redemption."-"Redemption"
from mortgage or foreclosure sale is a transaction
through which mortgagor, or one claiming in his right,
by means of payment or performance of a condition,
reacquires or buys back title which may have passed
under the mortgage.  Long v. King (1936)

is there a law between us    some pact
we go by    my promise of intelligibility
yours of attention    shall the mark of
such a compact be our absorption each
in the other    it is a strong and lasting
connection    these words between (and of) us
so different than    the rocket's red glare
as we seek some other form of proof
a way through the night to prove ourselves
to each other

6-5-285*  The holder of a worthless check,
draft or order for the payment of money shall
have a right of action against the person who
unlawfully made, uttered or delivered the same
to him or to his endorser; and such action

* Note: All references are to Michie's Alabama Code: The Complete
and Annotated Text of the Code of Alabama 1975. (The initial composition
of the poems was based on the 1985 edition and replacement volumes
of the Code.)

may be maintained though there has been no
prosecution, conviction or acquittal of the defendant
for his unlawful act.  Such action must be commenced
within one year from the date of the unlawful act.

it is time now to open up your books
for general inspection    so that the columns
can be carefully added and subtracted    squared
so that the courts can determine if any
thing has been left out    it is time
to justify your expenses and to state
truthfully all sources of income    for
there is general concern that you have not
been taxed fairly    and so this tri 
bunal orders a full audit to result in
a precise accounting    and i remind you
any non cooperation any concealment will result
in your being found in contempt of this court

6-9-41  No execution or other legal process
must be levied upon a growing or ungathered crop
of any description except for the purpose of
enforcing liens upon such crop for rent, advances or
labor as prescribed by law.

perhaps in the eyes of the law a poem
behaves the way a summons does    served
on a reader on a writer    the problem:
finding a deputy able to process and deliver
it    or else the words become a blur    and
the law is not consented to the poem not
listened to    but what is so re 
markable about that    but please
don't do it again in whining victorian triste
nor in late twentieth century take it on the chin
style

6-6-6  Before making their award
the arbitrators must be sworn impartially to
determine the matters submitted to them,
according to the evidence and the manifest justice
and equity of the case, to the best of their judgment
and without favor or affection, which oath

they may administer to each other
or may be administered to them by
any officer authorized to administer oaths.

i would like to see our immigration laws
altered    so that the condition of
immigrant becomes an ideal    a requirement
all americans required to be up-
rooted every ten years    renewal required
by radical change    an end to xenophobia
a life practice in relativity    if only
our regional accents could first become
distinct languages    oh the yiddish of
the carolinas    and the fine italian of montana
then the many zones we could pass into

Title acquired by possession of a disputed strip of land
for continuous period of 10 years under a belief
that the line claimed was the true line
is good even though the belief as to
the correct location of the line originated in a mistake,
and such title is not affected
by what claimant or his predecessors might,
or might not, have claimed
had they know they were mistaken.
Smith v. Bachus (1918)

most men lead wives of quiet desperation
it is hard to address history as something
other than a set of events    which isn't
history at all    as a nation we drift
in    historically speaking    a rather typical
mixture of amnesia and pollyanna    all
in the service    of a better tomorrow    done
in obedience to the maxim    live for today
we stand on the meeting place of two
eternities    friday afternoon    and the weekend
most men weed lives of quiet desperation

6-5-331  There shall be no civil claims
for alienation of affections, criminal conversation or
seduction of any female person of the age of 19 years or over.

Robert dropped off his book of poems
and told Elinor that if she didn't
marry him   he would kill himself   then
he drove off to the Dismal Swamp and
almost    thank god for the strength of
his refusals    did

The cause of action for seduction of an
unmarried woman is for redress of wrongful conduct
inducing a loss of chastity by the female as such with
the consequent degradation, mortification and
wounded feelings visited upon her, as well as
upon her parents.  Young v. Young (1938)

it is hard to tell which event looms larger
today's new (third in history) artificial heart trans-
plant    or still the repercussions of the man
who "took the law into his own hands" and
gunned down four young thugs who seemed to be
bugging him for money on the subway    the man
instantly a celebrity    free on bond    proclaims now
he just "wants to live a normal life"    is one of these
events History and the other not    is each action
subject to law

                               with oh so many semiologies
at hand   my darling   how shall we dine tonight
Chinese  hot or mild   Japanese  cooked or raw
oh what the hell let's go for good old unhealthy
Southern (American)   fry the vegetables or boil 'em
all day   slow cook the pork and baste it with
that secret hot sauce and chill a few beers
let's celebrate the killer in the subways    spend
"a quiet night a home"    set up the
tv trays and watch some investigative journalism
which one would you rather watch    the show
about cocaine addiction or the one on child abuse

6-5-390  A father or, in case of
his death or desertion of his family,
his imprisonment for a term of two years or more
under a conviction for crime, of his confinement
in an insane hospital or if he has been declared

of unsound mind, the mother may commence
an action for an injury to a minor child,
a member of the family.

twain twin twine    cane kin kind
where is that singing    if not in the syl-
lables    a tune found in the jux 
taposing    harmonies and dissonances
of colliding spheres of thought    two ships
of state passing in darkness    a song
and a law    calling to each other across
a canyon    voices interweaving and
separating    dialog of whale song & propeller

A belief that statements are true
does not create a privilege of publishing them.
Absolute verity is essential to the privilege.
Starks v. Comer (1914)

yes i can attest to the fact that grown men
do cry    lives and settlements can turn
on proving clear intentions    one day in our
truly democratic but still so wasteful land
it will be each citizen's right to a libel trial
with news coverage of course    to pick out one
particularly galling slander    and slanderer
and counter attack for two glorious televised days
your own chosen parade of character witnesses
hour after hour puffing up the virtuous
blimp of yourself    because it is your right

Tone of voice is immaterial if the language
is heard.  Mullens v. State (1887)

you buttered your bread
now you'll have to sleep in it

11-52-1  Definitions.  When used in this chapter,
the following words or phrases shall have the following
meanings, respectively, unless the context clearly
indicates otherwise:  (5) STREETS.  Streets, avenues,
boulevards, roads, lanes, alleys, viaducts and other ways.

this new fertilizer costs a little more but will
both promote your lawn's growth and kill
most common varieties of weed    the formula
is nitrogen rich and may produce
temporary discoloration    do not
broadcast on days when
apt to drift    keep away
from eyes pets trees flowers and shrubs

11-89A-25  This chapter being remedial in nature,
the provisions of this chapter
shall be liberally construed to effect its purpose.

as this is a time to be leaped over
though alive now    may hazard
a guess    but will be consumed anyway
in this interval    grace is the hope
that we may ever learn    to live at 
tentively    not constantly distracted    but able
at last    many of us    all of us    to keep
in mind    a train of thought    a love of being

11-53-1  It is hereby declared that insanitary and unsafe
buildings, dwellings and structures of all types and descriptions
used for human habitation exist in the incorporated munici-
     palities 
of this state and that such insanitary and unsafe conditions

arise from obsolescence, poor repair, maintenance and
the overcrowding and use of such buildings, dwellings and

structures used for human habitation and occupancy;
that such conditions are often compounded by inadequate
     provisions

for light and air, insufficient protection against fire hazards,
lack of living space and overcrowding and lack of heating,
plumbing and other facilities; that such insanitary and
unsafe buildings, dwellings and structures used for human

habitation and occupancy constitute a danger to the health,
safety, morals, welfare, well being and comfort of the in 
habitants and general public in such incorporated municipalities;
and,

that such conditions cause
an increase in and spread of disease and crime and
are damaging and injurious to the inhabitants and
general public of such incorporated municipalities.

he worked hard but in a way
that no one else could believe in
i begin now to understand    not with
the romantic halo of a young man
whose pain always promises change
but more permanently and despairingly
how a grown man would come to say
i have wasted my life

11-89-1  Definitions. (23)  SEWER SERVICE.
All services involved in collecting, transporting,
treating and disposing of sanitary sewage or
solid wastes and the performing of all functions and
activities reasonably incident to the operation
of a sewer system.

of course if the change came upon you
you could not stand it    neither striking
attitudes nor religious gestures would be
enough    what gives you the right
to be so blunt    ever and again
the story smuggles itself back in    the cat
came back    and so forth    i pray by god
that love is not a lie

30-1-8  Any person authorized under this chapter
to celebrate the rites of matrimony
is entitled to $2.00 for each marriage solemnized.

what did young i rage against    she has
no work at age 86 to go to    a friend with
a mending leg    none who drive anymore   once
a week the club and bingo    to breakfast and
to lunch and to dinner    careful attention to
the weather    and the traffic    a friend killed
crossing only a season ago    and some days
news of death    and the recurring mystery of her own
survival    the sewing machine she tinkers with
a heavy black iron foot treadle    back and forth

13A-11-30 (1)  EAVESDROP.  To overhear,
record, amplify or transmit any part of the private
communication of others without the consent of
at least one of the persons engaged in the communication,
except as otherwise provided by law.

already words were in the newspaper before he
got up but that morning after coffee and a shave
he added a few more anyway    ophthalmic
solution    measuring eye pressure    whether
near or far sighted    and whether glasses are required
taking the first step without thinking breaking
in the direction of the ball taking in the sound
calibrating quickly by the crack of the bat
for my grandfather it was very simple    jesus
was not the messiah    when the messiah comes
there will be peace on earth

13A-8-1  The term "deception" does not,
however, include falsity as to matters having no
pecuniary significance, or puffing by statements
unlikely to deceive ordinary persons.  "Puffing"
means an exaggerated commendation of wares or services.

by virtue of our story and its particular
telling    we are    and in the off rhyme of jew
and law    you say we are a people of the book
with the lore of commentary lair of words lure

of precision    twenty eight cubits on each of the
four sides    the posts made of acacia wood the
cherubim of gold the cloth covering dyed in stripes
of crimson and blue and white    when moses grew
confused    god drew him a simple sketch

if it is in the scheme of things that
i am to be denied grace    that does not
prevent me from laboring nonetheless
in the service of that grace

Castration was a kind of mayhem.
Pritchett v. State (1959)

i am not a songbird nor was ever meant to be

ever greater fidelity to something
from what perspective can our
history be seen    new low equatorial
elliptic orbit   secret mission paid
from public funds    this payload   five
select astronauts watch it spin away from the cargo bay

27-5-2  "Life insurance" is
insurance on human lives.

can see a man light a cigarette    day or night
for each one of you    a sentence in here

27-5-7  "Surety insurance"  includes:
(1)  Fidelity insurance, which is insurance
guaranteeing the fidelity of persons
holding positions of public or private trust.

black rectangle on white    received
habits of shape

32-6-54 Every license tag or license plate
issued by the state of Alabama for use on motor vehicles
in addition to any letters and figures prescribed by
the commissioner of revenue, shall also have imprinted thereon
a conventionalized representation of a heart
and the words "Heart of Dixie."

on the rectangular    black bordered
white aluminum sign    RED MAPLE
Acer rubrum    Spectacular scarlet
mixed with orange autumnal coloration

who could say it any better    but
the poetry in-heres not in the well sung

32-5A-261 (a)  A person propelling a bicycle
shall not ride other than upon or astride
a permanent and regular seat attached thereto.

line    but in the planing of languages
if dale keeps up this pace he'd hit
81 homers and get 243 rbis    another
friend said "it's all politics"    i'll
have the catfish and greens    tea?    yes
sweetened or un?    a walk in
a small park    is a safe place to
be insane    Liriodendron tulipfera
One of the noblest of American trees
Native to China and North America
the edge to the left erased away

32-5A-264  No person operating a bicycle
shall carry any package, bundle or article
which prevents the driver from keeping at least
one hand upon the handlebars.

the trick is to see just
how small the red spider is
i suppose i only have so many tones
to speak in    and my ohioan is one
hard old tone learned from frost
and failure    Sweet Gum    liquid-
amber styreciflua    he would have
said    chew on that one a while

26-6-2 (a)  A guardian may be removed and
his letters of guardianship revoked for any of the
following causes:  (4) For continued or habitual
inebriety or imbecility of mind or continued sickness
rendering him incapable of the discharge of his duties.
(5) For the waste of the ward's property, or neglect of
his affairs, or for any other good and sufficient cause.

a new treatment for the mentally ill is
to give the person a one way bus ticket
far away from the community    i heard
of one case of greyhound therapy where
a lost man    with no family and no
means of support    was sent from miami
to LA    the social worker knew the man
was mentally ill and all the other circumstances
when asked why he sent him to LA he said
because the buses didn't run to hawaii

27-30-3  The designation "mutual aid association"
and this chapter do not apply as to:  (1) Any secret
or benevolent society, such as Masons, Odd Fellows,
Knights and Ladies of Honor, Knights of Pythias, or
like orders and societies, or any association organized
and operating in good faith under the lodge system for purely
benevolent purposes and with a ritualistic form of work.

poetry can be a vehicle for thought
have you driven a ford lately
only if you go away and think
might what you have to say
amount to something    no one
likes cruel accounting    so
there is no other kind    we are
all held accountable    we are all
found wanting    a city upon a hill
with more affordable homes in the valley

37-8-254  Refusal to permit inspection of books, etc.

i'll be the first to admit
it's hard as hell to get very far away
from the trail    after all you've got
the map    you paid the fifty cents    and
plain as day    there's the trail down to
a guaranteed vista    so down the Black River Trail
to see what you're supposed to see    note
how dark the river is    as if night fell
permanently into it    darker than a coal bin
down to the dark river and its dim river god

first though    pick up a flat rock & skip it across

16-21-2  The state superintendent of education, with the advice
of the director of the department of archives and history, shall
compile and publish a carefully selected and annotated list
of books from which the libraries herein provided
shall be chosen, and he shall also adopt and publish
rules and regulations for the choice of books,
their use, preservation and circulation,
the erection of bookshelves or bookcases,
the equipment of library rooms or buildings and
the training of librarians or custodians for the libraries.
The selection shall be as nearly as possible
representative of the whole field of literature,
and maximum prices for purchase shall be indicated.

think of the shock when you learned
that the air around you had weight
that there was such a thing as a mole
of the stuff and it had a certain weight
that the sky in your drawings was not
detachable from the tree or flower that the
clear air down here was just like the
blue stuff up there we called sky that
the moon's light was not its own
that somewhere else it's night time that

your dog is aging at a different rate
than you that people on the other side
of the earth are not upside down
that all of space is dark that the story
you tell yourself you are is but
one of the ways you take shape only
within language and the rest is sleep
that we already speak the language of the dead

37-8-146  who wrongfully, or without authority,
removes any lamp from any switch stand,
or who removes the oil from any lamp on any switch stand,
or who removes any lantern, light, lamp,
torch, flag, fusee, torpedo or other signal
from any train, engine, car, railroad track, platform, depot
or right-of-way

the principle is one of resistance    push
and push back    pinned down by enemy
fire he launched a small well built so 
phisticated missile with a forty per cent
cost overrun built at a new weapons
plant in the southwest where the air's
getting a little worse with fourteen per
cent minority employees counting hispanics
as a minority    right into the rebel
stronghold    no    wait a minute    this
time the enemy was named "the government
forces"   but still    they were backed
by another enemy with their own cost
overruns and bad planning    but anyway
they are insurgents of some sort or other

16-1-15  For the purpose of preventing or
minimizing disciplinary problems,
the local school board may classify and group pupils
upon consideration of their social attitudes, their
amenability to discipline, their hostility toward
the school environment, and their health,
morals, cleanliness and habits of personal behavior.

the task at hand is not to play a game
of making as real as possible an imagined

situation    the thoughts of a dying dog
beside the road staring up at a startled
pedestrian    a public figure in a moment
of self doubt    a poet in a cornfield in
winter privy to illumination    a man cuts
his finger beside a river and imagines all
the places his blood will flow    and thus
feels part of the universe     instead a
site a room you may freely enter and in 
habit    not some restrictive gloves or
tight pants that force you to fit into them
only one way    so i'll tell you the story
of a man who saved

37-8-142  or who salts the track of said railroad
for the purpose of attracting cattle thereon, must,
on conviction, be punished by imprisonment in
the penitentiary for not less than ten years.

                                     cardboard boxes and piled
them around his house month after month planning
someday to build a huge ornate cardboard
castle with turrets minarets balconies and the
whole works only he never got around to it
but man he collected a helluva lot of boxes
and stacked them up all over his yard until
you could barely see the original roof and chimney
and predictably the neighbors became ardent
advocating that he be committed as everyone
lost patience and faith in the idea of the castle
and finally the city intervened siding with the
outraged neighbors claiming the boxes constituted
a fire hazard    the day before the sanitation
department came to clear away his collection
the singular man set it all    including himself
and the original house    irrevocably ablaze
and then the neighbors had the final say

13A-12-130 (a)   A person commits the crime of public
lewdness if:  (1) He exposes his anus or genitals
in a public place and is reckless about whether
another may be present who will be
offended or alarmed by his act

two little boys    brothers    in matching plaid trousers
you give each word a place    excavate a place
break in on it    overhear it    up hold it
as we (tacitly) promise to uphold the law
of the land    paws of our hand
go light on the coriander    do you
buy only authorized objects of veneration
this is language in the public domain    voo
doo promise    to unfold the laws (gauze)
of the land    her voice drops to whisper the price
the nervous one with tight drawn face

his ambition is someday to be speaker of the assembly
speaking of which    assembly is the issue    not for
the peaceful purpose of speech or demonstration    but
assembly of phrases    or of phases    or the different faces
of fact and action    of these words where(in) you and i
are    for now    here(in) assembled    in this house

40-12-74  Each person operating a circus
shall pay the following license tax:  where the seating capacity
of the circus is less than 2,000, $50.00; where
the seating capacity is 2,000 and less than 4,000, $100.00;
where the seating capacity is 4,000 or more, $200.00;
and the license tax hereinabove provided
shall include the license tax for a menagerie accompanying the
     circus.

why did the children in the story not attend school?
why was Sounder a good name for the dog?
why did the sheriff come for the boy's father?
what happened to Sounder when the sheriff came?
when did the mother do the laundry?
what did the boy fear had happened to Sounder?
what would you have done in the same situation?
where did the mother think Sounder had gone?
why would Sounder have gone there?

the enemies were of another breed
hard bitten Captain Manderson for one    a cruel officer
with hatred for Jeff in his eyes
and a dark secret on his soul

13A-6-1  Definitions. (2)   PERSON.  Such term,
when referring to the victim of a criminal
homicide, means a human being who had been born
and was alive at the time of the homicidal act.

honk if you love  a) jesus  b) semiology
c) golden retrievers  d) nurses  e) noise
which field of words    which field
dove words    rich field of words    this feel of words

30-4-3  The wearing apparel of the wife,
however acquired, is her separate property.

the old name was a circulating library and
the idea behind it    of books as a life blood
has some small currency to it now
they hide themselves in chemical messages
what does it mean to make good money
and the opposite is true as well    you can't
make a sow's ear out of a silk purse

30-1-3  The issue of any incestuous marriage,
before the same is annulled, shall not be deemed
     illegitimate.

the guidebook makes recommendations about
places to stay where to eat sights of particular
historic or aesthetic interest    and is in itself
a place to visit    pages of good views

to make some small new order and not
get vain about it to make some new order and know
it as but a small domain temporary as the impulse
which sustains it to make some small new order

that's a mighty tall order    stranger
you best be moving on    pilgrim

13A-11-13 (a)   A person commits the crime
of abuse of a corpse if, except as other-
wise authorized by law, he knowingly treats
a human corpse in a way that would outrage
ordinary family sensibilities

islands    irrigations    do or die
in the name of the dewey decimal system
can you explain to me why she isn't better
known    new headlines at the top of every hour
accused of pulling up four chairs beside
the water table    the best way to keep up
with what's happening    money  water  currency

it's a strange occurrence indeed    but not
unknown in these parts    mistaking the part

for the hole    paging a mr tom eliot
will you please come to the white courtesy phone
paging a mr tom eliot    please pick up
the white courtesy phone    no association is free
up in arms    legging it out    thumbing back east

13A-11-12  Desecration of venerated objects.
Commentary:  With no clear decision on flag
desecration statutes the lower courts have gone
both ways.  The constitutionality seems to center
on the courts' interpretation of the conduct,
that is, whether it is conduct per se,
or symbolic speech.

it does not begin as imitation    but soon
you are in its snare    having learned a
composite practice    you proceed to play it as
your own composition    which is not to say
that originality is what's called for    in fact
there's no dumber project possible in some 
thing as intimately shared as language
against which    voice    is a smokescreen    as if
to find your own voice in some way solved anything

40-1-1  DEFINITIONS.  (9) MASCULINE GENDER.  All
words importing the masculine gender shall also
apply to females.  (10) PRESENT TENSE.  All words
importing the present tense shall also apply to the future.
(14) INCOMPETENT VETERAN.  Any veteran
who has been rated totally and permanently disabled
by reason of insanity by the veterans' bureau
and for whom a guardian has been appointed.

we were alive then and there was a war
so we are alive now and there are other wars
the political the historical bits of hail falling
among mostly rain    hail  the ones that hit hard

as a good american i am compelled to picture
history as a tough guy but nothing to be afraid of
nothing that can't be fought or bought off

here    take a c note and go have fun    kid

this new development features large plots
of land    one to five acres for each house
no two alike of course    with several distinctive
styles    tudor mansion    victorian gingerbread
california modern    and southern plantation
overall the eight hundred acre estate proudly
preserves one of the area's last stands of virgin pine
rolling hills afford each home a spectacular
undisturbed view some homes from a specially
projected dining room others from a redwood deck
ideal for a first estate  family investment  or retirement

16-40-3 (c)  The direction of study shall be
one of orientation in contrasting the government
of the United States of America with
the Soviet government and shall emphasize
the free enterprise competitive economy of
the United States of America as the one which produces
higher wages, higher standards of living,
greater personal freedom and liberty
than any other system of economics on earth.
It shall lay particular emphasis upon
the dangers of communism, the ways to fight communism,
the evils of communism, the fallacies of communism
and the false doctrines of communism.

he made them tear up the carpet so it
could be inspected and re layed because
when it was put down the first time the
observer inadvertently left the room for
a few minutes and the rules prescribe strict
observation since the enemy would do anything
to bug a place like this    his order to remove
and re lay the carpet caught the attention of his
superiors    who praised him for his precaution and
his attention to regulations    but they also dressed him
down for failing to impress upon his subordinates the need
to be there every minute and to follow the rules exactly

16-40-4  There shall be taught in the public schools
of this state, in addition to other branches of study
as now prescribed, a system of humane treatment of animals.
It shall be the duty of the principal teacher of
every public school within this state
to see that there is devoted at least 20 minutes
each week through the entire term to teaching
the pupils of his or her school kindness, justice
and humane protection of birds and animals and
the important place they occupy in the economy of nature.

my little sister loved her stuffed monkey and
carried him with her everywhere dragging his
fuzzy body along the ground    and then one day
she washed and washed his face unaware that
she was scrubbing away his painted eyes and
nose and mouth and still she dragged around with her
this blank and erased and nevertheless beloved friend
with his smooth and featureless face

15-8-30  Statement of time.  It is not
necessary to state the precise time at which
an offense was committed in an indictment; but
it may be alleged to have been committed on any day
before the finding of the indictment, or generally
before the finding of the indictment, unless
time is a material ingredient of the offense.

waving his sceptre pope eliot spoke of
the timeless and the temporal and of
the timeless and the temporal together which is
the present moment    and all before him
bowed and nodded    polyps of seaweed compelled
by the tide    today there is a dog trainer    very
successful    who claims learning to use the voice of
command is the key to training your pet

13-9-60  Definitions.  (1) Incite.  To urge, encourage,
counsel, command, direct, enjoin, charm, beguile, inveigle,
cajole, conjure, demand, summon, stimulate, threaten, arouse,
stir, agitate, suggest, induce, provoke, exhort, beg, beseech,
entreat, ask, tell, signal, call, motion, gesture or otherwise
seek to move to concrete action immediately or at the first

opportune occasion.  It does not include the advocacy or teaching
of abstract doctrines unaccompanied by any effort
to bring about concrete action.

after all    you've invested so much of your time in
the project    why not throw in a little bit of money
and take complete control of the process    demystify it
do it when and how you see fit    after fifteen years of
sticking to it    why defer the judgment of its value
to someone else

14-5-3  It shall be unlawful to work any convict,
state or county, in any coal mine of Alabama.

in darkened rooms alone or in groups
they like to sit still and watch images
of their kind moving about talking and
especially cracking jokes    by the time
the average child graduates from high school
he or she will have spent more time with
the tv than in school    it can be ward june
wally and beaver   or frank faye mick henry and joyce
but think just think over all those hours
what must be taken to heart

14-3-44  All convicts must be clothed during the term of
their imprisonment in a comfortable manner in coarse and cheap
clothing made in a uniform and peculiar style so
as to distinguish them from other persons.

i used to meditate    i think once i used to meditate
i remember a long while back how i used to sit cross 
legged emptying my head for an hour at a time facing
a blank wall back when i used to meditate    i remember
a long while back how i used to sit cross legged until
my ankles went numb emptying my head for an hour or so
at a time at first silently counting breaths just sitting
on a particular smooth medium thick pillow then not
having to count breaths anymore with my eyes a little
down cast facing a blank wall letting enter whatever
would back when i was younger maybe twenty or twenty one and
i used to meditate

always sneaking that insistent pronoun in

13A-6-60  (1) SEXUAL INTERCOURSE.  Such term has
its ordinary meaning and occurs upon any
penetration, however slight; emission is not required.

i am the young man eliot dragging
an eraser behind him    for who has not
been ashamed of his own particular bungling
so i erase my past that i may enter in 
to other lives and times and voices    but
not as tom the older man eliot to pon-
tificate and judge    his dream to speak
if not the wisdom of the ages    at least
to exhale    to expel    a purely impersonal breath
a song that does not have as its end to do the singer credit

up one sighed    and down the other

15-6-1  The sheriff is the principal conservator of the peace
in his county, and it is his duty to suppress all riots,
unlawful assemblies and affrays.  In the execution of
such duty, he may summon to his aid
as many of the men of his county as he thinks proper.

when they came for me    handcuffed me    and
threw me across the backseat of the car
even then i could not believe it was
happening    when they tied the blindfold
and taped my mouth shut    i began to believe

cute lucite clock    pink plastic shoes
floppy disk    hard copy    artificial sweetener
high fiber diet    fiber optics    turnaround time
collagen injections diminish facial wrinkles    tummy tuck
fat staple    anabolic steroids    embarrassing rectal itch
erasable ink megavitamins tofu substitution
one is an antiperspirant    the other a deodorant
please be on time    roughage    greens    expiration date
generic products   tamper proof packaging    direct to the
     customer
this offer void where prohibited by law    for a limited time only
sale items available only as supply lasts

15-8-25  An indictment must state the facts constituting the
     offense
in ordinary and concise language, without prolixity or repetition,
in such a manner as to enable a person of common under-
     standing
to know what is intended and with that degree of certainty
which will enable the court, on conviction,
to pronounce the proper judgment.  In no case are the words
"force of arms" or "contrary to the form of the statute" necessary.

dear h______  i must be frank with you about
these new poems you have sent me    if you persist
in this new direction you will squander whatever
talents you have as a poet    i can't for the life of me
figure out what is possessing you to write like this   all poets
come to the crossroads you have found    the lure of intellect
is very strong    no one wishes to be thought simple minded
please listen to me    i am certain you have taken the wrong
path    simplicity and clarity    narrative and condensation
all require a lifetime's work    it is easy to achieve a
modicum of mastery in the simple style you now reject    but
the true bloom of that style comes only twenty or thirty
years later    but i suppose that right now you find it
gratifying to revel in a freedom which you have come upon
through theory and abstract thought    i wish you well

though you know how much i hate such poetry    my true
wish for you is that you return to your senses    sincerely _____

16-36-30  The county and city boards shall also provide for
the repair of used textbooks and, in compliance with the advice
of the state board of health, the occasion for and manner of
fumigation of used textbooks so as to protect pupils
from any diseases which may be transmitted through
the reissue of such textbooks.

their perfect unused and overfed bodies the white
slightly tubby sorority girls in warm up outfits
turquoise and pink with scientifically designed counter 
balanced white shoes headphones and compact tape
players clipped to the waist arms swinging back
and forth rapid walking this at nineteen the exercise
they are reduced to    holding back a little on pizzas and desserts
the turkeys injected with breast growing hormones
fall over until slaughtered    land too precious for grazing
the cows fed on beer propped up in their stalls    plump and
tender

2-15-3  (a) Every butcher shall keep a record of every cow
or animal of the cow kind killed, showing the color, earmarks
and brand of each cow or animal of the cow kind killed or
butchered and the date when killed or butchered and, if
     purchased,
from whom purchased, the residence of the person from whom
the same was purchased and when and also
the approximate gross weight at the time purchased
and at the time killed or butchered.

reading as a derangement of the systematic senses
is that my mother on the phone    speak up
seven is a natural number seven is an integer the baal
shem tov hid for seven years before being called to reveal himself
seven is a whole number seven is a prime number
seven is an odd number and sometimes confused with one

15-18-86  (a) If there is a reason to believe
that a female convict is pregnant, the sheriff
must, with the concurrence of a judge of the circuit
court, summon a jury of six disinterested persons,

as many of whom must be physicians as practicable.

just how does it add up    at their age they're all
beautiful    oh dr chillingsworth    what beautiful
blue eyes you have    the motor to sea you with

2-15-298  No ticky cattle, horses, mules or asses
shall be driven, moved or transported in any way
into Alabama.

number seven always means mickey mantle
three the babe    thirty three kareem   thirty 
four sweets    thirty two either oj or jim brown
twenty four mays    five dimaggio    these
who did things well    between the lines

2-15-20  (4) BRAND.  Any recorded identification mark
applied to any position on the hide of livestock
by means of heat, acid or a chemical, except
tattoo marks in the ear or
numbers used to keep production records or records of age.

hard not to harden into slogan    have you
noticed no one these days is talking much about
gravity and the inverse square relation    there's
nothing much better than having a great relief
pitcher on your team    one with a wicked sinkerball

3-1-15  It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or
corporation to display, sell, offer for sale, barter or
give away any baby rabbits, or baby chicks, ducklings or
other fowl, but not including parrots, parakeets and
canaries, as pets or novelties, regardless of whether or
not such rabbits or fowl are dyed, colored or
otherwise artificially treated.

he's got the blinders on today because large
crowds rattle him    placement and time
determine the stud fee    which is the basis
of syndication    what doesn't make some sense
what exactly is it about the brain that we're
trying to map    what do you measure the brain with
you should replace your headlights every

five years    the fan belt every three    how much
does a thought weigh    i'd change the oil
every ten thousand    you think you don't
understand but you do

34-5-1  "The practice of barbering" is hereby defined
to mean any one or combination of the following practices,
when done upon the human male body
above the seventh cervical vertebra
for cosmetic purposes and not for the treatment
of disease or physical or mental ailments,
and when done for payment, directly or
indirectly or without payment for the public generally:
Shaving or trimming the beard or trimming the hair.

after too much coffee it is wise to sit down
and compose oneself    he told me to cut
back the apple trees every few years    if left
to grow on their own    they outgrow themselves
and stop bearing

a thin almost invisible fibre optic wire for
transmitting light or voices    cables buried all over the place

41-3-1  The state of Alabama reserves to itself
the exclusive right and privilege of exploring,
excavating or surveying, through its authorized officers,
agents or employees, all aboriginal mounds and
other antiquities, earthworks, ancient or
historical forts and burial sites within the state of Alabama.

of moral and honest rednecks who like to waterski and ride
motorcycles on weekends    boys there learn to drive at
twelve or thirteen    families may eat friday dinner at
the Pump 'n' Dine    the men have pit bulls for pets    and
in winter go off early on saturdays to kill deer    with
booze and comradeship    from a trailer with a two or
three thousand dollar satellite dish beside it    boys
zooming around on makeshift motorbikes and dune
buggies made from old volkswagens    or sometimes
killing a cardinal with a pellet gun for the beauty
and curiosity of it    the grace and compulsion of
shooting down a shimmering red thing    because the boy
and the bird could be connected so quickly and exactly

20-1-91  It shall be unlawful for any person, firm,
partnership, corporation or association to sell or
offer for sale for any purpose pecans or any other nuts
designated in section 20-1-90 when such nuts

he was thrilled to win the pullet surprise
a bucket of wings    a bucket of thighs
kareem fought for position    but moses
kept banging away at him    wake up little susie
what you gonna tell your ma and pa    dizzy wisdom
get thee hence    he knows full well if he
ever blows his cover it's lights out
oh beautiful voracious skies
four amber waifs of grain

are commonly known and designated at shelling, grading,
     cracking
or cleaning plants as "blow outs," "pops," "culls" or
rejected nuts,
unless such nuts are crushed or otherwise denatured to render
     the nuts
unfit for human consumption.

honor thy preconceptions and keep them wholly
losing your temper and getting slapped with a T
his friends call him hoovernose
the chamber's new ad campaign   where quality of life abounds
army   be all you can be
as faith without doubt dies   so poetry
didn't you think the bohr model of the atom
was a lot neater    how does the absent
portion of the atom stay in place    what
is that emptiness made of

41-12-1  The building and grounds known as
the first White House of the Confederacy, opposite
the Capitol and now the property of the state,
shall be preserved and held inviolate as
a perpetual memorial to Jefferson Davis and
the men and women associated with him in
the organization of the Confederate government and
as a reminder to all future generations that this
great historical event, one of the most memorable in
the annals of time, occurred in the city of
Montgomery and state of Alabama.

and the tedium of the commentaries is only surpassed
by the writing of the laws themselves    but the legal mind
defends  persists    precision and not artistry is
the lawmaker's goal    clarity and a sense of fairness
so that the reader of a law shall immediately see
its necessity    the point which was not previously
covered    but to my eyes    by my lights    such precision
is a wild exuberant dream    pleaful as prayer    extreme
by virtue of its forceful exclusions    pretending to be
without tone    so that the less sure of itself it is
the harder it presses down

21-7-10  Each year, the governor shall take suitable public
     notice
of October 15 as White Cane Safety Day.  He shall issue a
      proclamation
in which:  (1) He comments upon the significance of the white
     cane.

to maximize land use    i recommend we subdivide    say one or
two acre lots emphasizing the rolling hills and historical
value of the area    we need to respect the current
configuraton of the land    we should leave
i think    several greenbelt areas    even maybe
a community orchard    and we divide and
figure in the cost of these enhancements into
the cost of each house    while still maintaining
an affordable price for the right clients

20-1-110  Short title.  This article shall be known
as the Oleomargarine Fortification Act.

psychotropic poetry    about familiar feelings and
emotion charged events    who wears the sweat
pants in your family    in 1983 only 1% of
american working women earned more than
$25,000    slap two grooves in it and
call it an ashtray    this time of year who
wouldn't like to be in the carolinas
of course you'll want to get the matching belt
fragments made that way    brilliant natural looking shine

22-19-41 (1)  BANK or STORAGE FACILITY.  A facility
licensed, accredited or approved under the laws of
any state for the storage of human bodies, or parts thereof.

dave drunk hears static sizzling and staggers
to the bay window which before his eyes turns
into a great sheet of light searing the momentary
enlightened dave collapsing and clutching his heart

22-17-6  The headrest of every barber or beauty shop chair
shall be covered with a clean towel or clean new paper
before any patron is served.

i don't like countries that keep changing names
i don't like countries with more than two parties
i don't like countries that harbor terrorists and that export
revolution or too many subcompact cars    i don't like
countries printing history books that don't tell the truth
i don't like countries without golf courses    i don't like
countries where the people don't bathe every day
i don't like countries that make a big fuss over paying
their fair share to protect democracy    i don't
like countries where the people aren't polite    i
don't like countries where the people are lazy

20-1-51 (a)  A cosmetic shall be deemed adulterated:
(1)  If it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance
which may render it injurious to users under the conditions
of use prescribed in the labeling thereof or
under such conditions of use as are customary and usual.

vegetables fresh fruit whole grains fibers pesto pasta
yoghurt and tofu    eight essentials for a happier
healthier you    with my credit cards and my credit cards
i myself may be a bit of a jew

as poetic language itself eroded under the multiple attacks
of advertising propaganda the workshop the greeting card
     political speeches
radio and tv    some insisted anyway on the metaphor of panning
for gold and so stood beside the river sifting for the pure clear
     word
and made of their makings one more commodity for submission
     and sale

pour words through a funnel until you come up with
a poignant scene    show don't tell    is loyal brave
trustworthy square and true    knows how to tie many
intricate knots    makes fire by rubbing two sticks together

15-18-83 (a)  The following persons may be present
at an execution and none other:
(1) The executioner and such persons as may be necessary to
assist him in conducting the execution;
(2) The commissioner of corrections or his representative;
(3) Two physicians, including the prison physician;

(4) The spiritual advisor of the condemned;
(5) The chaplain of Holman prison;
(6) Such newspaper reporters as may be admitted by the 
warden; and
(7) Any of the relatives or friends of the condemned person that
     he
may request, not exceeding five in number.
      (b) No convict shall be permitted by the prison authorities
              to witness the execution.

it is of course   politically and philosophically
reactionary   to use god's name in any tran-
scendental or straight manner    first an am-
bulance went by   followed closely by a cop car
but did you actually see the deceased step from
the curb    i'm not sure  i think so   i saw i
think    a blueish blur moving and then heard
a collision    looked quickly that way    and saw
the body spinning bleeding roll onto the lawn    and
the ambulance and cop car race on    i ran
outside then ran back in    and called an am 
bulance    what were you doing at the time of
the accident    i was at my desk reading and
writing    exactly which
were you doing when the deceased stepped out    a little of
both  neither    well what were you paying attention to

22-19-40  Short title.  This article may be cited
as the Alabama Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.

The poems were first published in Doublespace: Poems 
1971-1989 (New York: Segue, 1992) and appear here with 
the permission of Hank Lazer.