Theatre in the round and audience in circle spiral
this concentric all one thing labyrinth so discrete
body parts assembled in this grace full anele curve
the cross is the cross roads raised up to wide sky
its roots go down to Lethe the river to cross to other
side of what life always was and forever hopes to be
in spite of our gross calculations, overweening hubris
life still goes on so miraculous I been Working on the
Innovations here they come there they go progressive
digressive parts articulated, this undulation that flows
shock fondue immobility living statutes from slaves of
stone oh, portrait of ugliness diphthong winged victory
shuffling Pierrot to ingenue they’ll be coming around
the mountain when they come, oh, yes when they come
since thy fought the Battle of Laissez-faire, Laissez-faire
and you know, the Towers They Come a Tumbling Down
Milton Freedman, and Tom Freedman too, Al Greenspan
fought that old Battle of Laissez-faire, oh, yes Laissez-faire
but they’ll be coming around the mountain, Kush mountains
and they’ll be driving in the rear view mirror, rear view mirror
and they’ll be firing hellfire missiles, yes, those hellfire missiles
they’ll be droning on forever, droning on forever, forever
as they mass surveil the people, mass surveil the global people
they’ll be strait-jacketing the economies, strait-jacket economy
and pincer-actioning the law and funda-mental-izing the minds
they’ll be panzer tanking the market, oh blitzkrieging the markets
when they come, when they come, oh, when they come
they’ll be legal and economic pincer-actioning life (its very self)
when they come, when they come, oh, when they come
since they fought the Battle of Laissez-faire, Laissez-faire
and the two front teeth Towers came tumbling down
and yes, over there was over here and over here was over there
small BIG small BIG small shock fondue immobility oh immobility
the last resort of the those too small in size and big in their innocence
when they come, when they come, oh, yes when they come

 

James Van Looy has been a fixture in Boston’s poetry venues since the 1970s. He is a member of Cosmic Spelunker Theater and has run poetry workshops for Boston area homeless people at Pine Street Inn and St. Francis House since 1992. Van Looy leads the Labyrinth Creative Movement Workshop, which his Labyrinth titled poems are based on. His work appears weekly in Oddball Magazine.