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The Sunday Poem: Todd Moore... instructions

A gun barrel, 70 words, 37 lines. This skinny poem looks like a coffin nail, a phallic gesture, a rush to death, or the passage of Time itself. But along its narrow length are 37 little framed pictures clicking by as you drop down the page.

"When I read a poem I want it to be something that could scalp me and leave me for dead. I want it to be suffused with the beauty of language and the power of murder. I want it to own me every time I read it, I want it to be unique, unrepeatable and yet absolutely surprising every time I dive into it. I want it to have the same kind of power as a Goya or a prehistoric cave hunting scene. I want it to make my blood shake, monstrously and always." --Todd Moore

"Outlaw poet" Todd Moore has had more than 100 chapbooks and books published since 1976. His latest book from Lummox Press this year is The Riddle of the Wooden Gun which is part of the DILLINGER epic. Moore's work has been called both hypnotic and cinematic. One critic noted "Moore's style is unmistakable, as recognizable as a Hemingway sentence." Epic Rites Press in Canada will publish a book of his poetry in 2010. Todd Moore's photo taken by Roy Manzanares. Todd has lived in Albuquerque since 1993.

instructions

for playing
russian rou
lette first
put the
bullet in
an empty

chamber
spin the
cylinder
3 times
quickly
cock the
hammer
back lick
it off for
luck & the
black taste
of death
then point
the pistol
at yr head
take a
very deep
breath ex
hale slowly
& let yr
finger fall
in love w/
the trigger
the way
that maya
kovsky's
did the
shock of
the click
cd kill
you

--Todd Moore

Poetry submissions are welcome. Email theditchrider@gmail.com. The whole Sunday Poem series is available from the front page of the DCF by clicking on The DitchRider in the left-hand sidebar. Poems early in the series are archived under "previous post" at the bottom of The DitchRider blog.

Tags: Moore, poetry

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Comment by Margaret Randall on November 22, 2009 at 7:43am: What I love about the Sunday poems is the vast variety... always something new and different.

Comment by Barelas Babe on November 22, 2009 at 10:13am: A rush of adrenalin in the reading makes me almost want to set aside my morning cup of coffee. Breathtaking.

Comment by cathyray on November 22, 2009 at 11:55am: No kidding, BB, it is a rush!! I'm a little out of breath & my heart is racing.

Comment by Ben Moffett on November 22, 2009 at 6:48pm: Several things stand out for me. The absence of punctuation, which is proof that it is not always needed. It can be read as one sentence or two. Two lines stun me more than the rest: "let yr finger fall in love w/the trigger, and the comedic "shock of the click could kill you." The latter reminds me of the Cassidy-Sundance episode, when Sundance sez he can't swim and Cassidy laughs, "why hell, the fall will probably kill ya." I loved that, tension-reliving for me, ending. I'm a fan.