September 22nd, 2009 / 11:15 am
 Excerpts

GIANT EXCERPT: from The Dance of No Hard Feelings by Mark Bibbins (#2)

dougpowell

I Used to Have the Shampoo
with D.A. Powell

I used to have the shampoo

by the balls but the wind hurt my hair so.
I can’t get over that retarded girl on the trike,

can’t find the apes in the apiary
can’t get hard for the hardtack

and the cannery is closed.
Well, this is just a trumped-up way of saying

your haircut is among the finest in Wyoming.
From the brightly arranged parlors of San Francisco

to the uncompromising river, beside which, huskily, we sang,
you can modify an adverb with an adverb–they do it all the time in France–

but I have not left my room in thirty years.
My life is shrinking like a desiccated organ,

wilted japonicas drenched in wine.

All this week, HTMLGiant will be posting poems from The Dance of No Hard Feelings (Copper Canyon) Mark Bibbins’s eagerly and long-awaited followup collection to 2003’s Sky Lounge. Day #1 is here. Check back daily for fresh doses.

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10 Comments

  1. September 22nd, 2009 / 3:23 pm alan—

      Nice. That’s a Brainard in the background of the photo, btw.

  2. September 22nd, 2009 / 11:23 am alan—

      Nice. That’s a Brainard in the background of the photo, btw.

  3. September 22nd, 2009 / 5:09 pm drew kalbach—

      big fan of these (almost typed that in all caps)

  4. September 22nd, 2009 / 1:09 pm drew kalbach—

      big fan of these (almost typed that in all caps)

  5. September 22nd, 2009 / 4:02 pm Excerpts!—

      […] alliteration — another one!) are happening on the internet this week.  First, all this week, HTMLGIANT is excerpting Mark Bibbins’ new book of poetry The Dance of No Hard Feelings.  Today’s entry features a poem written with […]

  6. September 22nd, 2009 / 4:51 pm Excerpts! | Hometown Pasadena—

      […] alliteration — another one!) are happening on the internet this week.  First, all this week, HTMLGIANT is excerpting Mark Bibbins’ new book of poetry The Dance of No Hard Feelings.  Today’s entry features a poem written with […]

  7. September 23rd, 2009 / 12:48 pm Matt Jasper—

      BIG FAN OF THESE (typed that in all caps)

      will order the book

  8. September 23rd, 2009 / 8:48 am Matt Jasper—

      BIG FAN OF THESE (typed that in all caps)

      will order the book

  9. September 29th, 2009 / 12:15 pm HTMLGIANT / Roundup—

      […] week I posted a poem Mark Bibbins wrote with D.A. Powell. Today I have an interview that Travis Nichols conducted with D.A. […]

  10. November 27th, 2009 / 6:00 pm HTMLGIANT / GIANT Excerpt: from The Dance of No Hard Feelings by Mark Bibbins (#3)—

      […] Bibbins’s eagerly and long-awaited followup collection to 2003’s Sky Lounge. Day #1 is here. Day #2 is here. Check back daily for fresh […]