early modern Europe
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for these
for theseand for all those who haveno plowand no anvil over which to benda plow into beingno seedand no burgage1 over whichto spread seedno meadowand no swine to shepherdinto the meadowfor all those who waitand in their wait makethe square drunk and quarrelsomelewd and a frightwait for the roads to thawand for the thawed roads… Continue reading
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those west faced
those west facedwalls of masonry and brickworkthat all wednesday were damp darkened by rain washthrough all the hours of sunrisetoday those housefronts and marketstalls were shadow tintedbut now that sunless hue recedesdown those walls like a tidenow those walls are sunlight shadedlike mortar like mud at midday go to that dark monastery where i liveand… Continue reading
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my father could afford to pay the fare
my father could afford to pay the farethe horizon ahead was a curtain closedbehind the curtain in the next day laywittenberg and that winter two winters beforethe carriage that brought me from summer and a place where there was nothing for me to do there wasa draft that entered those long daysin from around the… Continue reading
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paracelsus who was
paracelsus who wasphysician at basel on the day the pestilence arrivedonce said there was no cloudover the town that day no stormfrom where a first raindrop felland another then a thirdthen a quarter of a delugean evil helios climbed the sky that dayand from midday shonedown on a first in the squarethe first felt his… Continue reading
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there came a messenger once
there came a messenger oncein august it wasearly september late in the afternoonhis horsesweat lathered and panting he rodethrough the archway to the frontdoors the heavy oak doors to our priviledgehe brought instruction for besserercharles’ armies had occupiedstuttgart it was pillaged and burnedulm was taxed into destitution and submissionwhen others of his classmates here had… Continue reading
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tomorrow
when the shadows of short boys stretchlong on the cobble stones of collegien strasse when they stretch toward the westand toward town square tomorrow early showthis erasmus the way to the market Continue reading
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my father delivered me from
my father delivered me fromthose accusations that pursued me in romefrom the trials thatawaited me in my future from my refusals to recant or renounce from the tortures from my executionmine was the face of a boy thenbefore beard growth and bare as a woman’sfather starched away and chalkedthe dark of my southern complexionmy familiarity… Continue reading
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the boy who plays the flute
the boy who plays the flutebreathes gentle breath over the lip brimand across the open mouth of oh a sticka dead stickthat lays across his youthful handsa stick straight as rigor mortishis eyes whirl to their cornersacross the square comes the constablecomes to send him home himand the boy who strums the luteand the boy… Continue reading
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on the corner in market square
on the corner in market squarewhere the door opens into the black eaglethe weaver’s son become the printer’s devil regard how the inks on his four fingers and on his thumb dance on the lute strings pluckedby the inks on his other hand’s greeter and thumb regard but regard too much you’ll miss how his… Continue reading
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the baker woman sells white loaves
the baker woman sells white loavesand loaves of rye and loaves of barley and oatsthe butcher’s boy sells pork scraps for stewand chickens and plucked caponsthe pedlar sells gold and alcohol andalchemy in jars of elixir from his cartgive them all to think you’re deafthen hear mrs kretschner ask if you wanta cup of ale Continue reading
About Me
I have a day.
Jake's Flea Market 