early modern Europe
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after i’d returned from elsinore
after i’d returned from elsinoreresumed my education learnedhow to write a sermon how to preachon one two day ride away from wittenbergon a horse old and lame and plodding takenfrom the university’s stable to ministerto a peasant village near zwickau from a path grooved through grass verticalgrain headed in the air and grass choppedhorizontal to… Continue reading
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at the black eagle yesterday i met
at the black eagle yesterday i meta mercenary named kehrina soldier amputatedbelow the knee down to a beggara deserving beggaramputated from a cruel career downto holding his hand out for a kindnesshe brought old reports from ghent abandoned by the dutchstarved by the spaniardi bought tankards of beer for him to make the old news… Continue reading
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marcellus was a coin
marcellus was a coin taxed from an estate to help pay for claudius’ warson the face of the coin wherewas claudius’ head engravedand on the hind side where marcellus’ worthmarcellus didn’t thinkhis was a peasant’s heartin a skin of soldier’s mail he pulsedin a steel shellin his heart he knew allbut his heart never thought Continue reading
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a dark age it needed
a dark age it neededa military trumpeter to becomea rooster at dawnbefore it began to become an age ofchurch bells in bronze polishedto a glow that clanged in the sun risentown that woke when charlemagnetribe by tribe conqueredthe scattered germaniclights into one great lantern he was crownedemperor of the romansthis is how an imperial day… Continue reading
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when they cease to be your friends
when they cease to be your friendsit begins when they wake your daily companions the changebegins one morning the firstmorning after the annual season returns they waketheir lives dressed in silks and velvets embroideries abandoned and in their sleep smocks and in the woolen breeches of workers they go out of their roomswhen the oat… Continue reading
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with nora removed
with nora removedby a dialect for every fingerand by another for every toegone to antwerp to learn to speak a dutch you don’t understandi asked that you remove your shirtand barechested lieface up and flat backed to the flooryour eyes became a mouththey uttered that i’d cursed in my supplications as i prayed to slice… Continue reading
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i hear that you’ve sworn to abdicate
i hear that you’ve sworn to abdicatefrom your scholarship here at this university to walk awayfrom the vacation of your dormitory from the evacuationof your fortunes from wittenberg the weekly assembly gathers mondaydeparts from the town at dawn i want shame to creep heat blushup your neck into your faceas you walk across the empire… Continue reading
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an apprentice should be tempted
an apprentice should be tempted to abandon his apprenticeship pay double what’s paid to an apprentice four guilders when he signsor makes his mark at the bottom of the page Continue reading
About Me
I have a day.
Jake's Flea Market 