Maps and Transcripts of the Ordinary World

an egg. Transliteration. Using the closest corresponding letters or sounds of a completely different alphabet. Shorthand into full sentences. A new arrangement with an entirely other instrument. Transcribed for cello. For piano. For a choir. A bird sound rendered in hyphenated lettering. A mountain. A mountain.
MAP
Two-dimensional circles stand
for three-dimensional hills,
so Profitis Elias (one so called
on every Greek island, the highest point
on which to build a church)
I can tell in advance to be, well,
very tall, but the hewn
marble stairs on the donkey path
are a complete surprise,
also the donkeys themselves
and their riders with Yassas, Yassas,
(one hello for each of us)
also the view looking down from the top.
I take seven photographs turning
in a circle, a panorama,
but how will I place them hanging
on a wall back home? Something already slipping.
And a world-sized map takes a beating
when it’s all spread out,
covers ground but does not match.
And my rugged circles are conceptual, darling.
All they do
is point fingers at loosened hills.
POSTCARD
Dear Brenda, We saw
a lamb on a spit
and took pictures
of it for you,
its bared teeth
and arms tied
and a battery-powered turner,
saw it turn
oh and loved its half-bakedness
for you O Brenda.
And our kitty Artemis
sits on one particular rock
on our rock staircase today,
sits for no reason
and is lovely
and teeming with bugs
though Geoff bathed her in the sink
entirely against her will
though we picked off
two ticks stuck
in her hard
and ugly.
And a ship pulls into the harbor,
pulls in its sails,
wraps them like arms around themselves O
if you could see it.
TRANSCRIPT OF BIRDS
The two birds on the left
sit and the third bird says
[third bird:] ---------
---------
---------
[shakes its wings]
---------
---------
[second bird flies off, back again, off]
---------
---------
[---------is the bird sound]
[second bird:] [makes the bird sound]
[second bird opens its mouth, shakes
its wings:]---------
[bug falls on page]
[dead bug]
[from above]
[tree]
THE MAP KEEPS THINGS PUT
1
Every morning we open the curtains.
Every evening we sit on the porch.
We have a topographical map
that names the highest peak
we see out the window.
Two mountain ranges tell us where we are:
We are between two ranges.
Mapped but minus paper.
2
The sea is such today that I can see
on its surface almost the map’s white
dot dot dot, the border conceptual.
The map keeps things put.
The islands float above it.
I can see four islands from my perch.
I can be on just one.
3
Enter through the magnetic gate.
Requires pushing.
Path lined with stones
upside-down trees
called umbrella pines
on the left.
There is a door here there is
always a door.
THIS DONKEY PATH
The map is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional swath of land. As I have said. A diagrammatic rendering. For use with a compass. For use with stars. A printed version of the live line between the island and the sea. The island is an island in Greece. The live line is a concept taken down on the page. The line on the page resembles the line between island and sea. Corresponding parts. A record. A miniature. A paper representation of the mountain. A plan. When taken, this donkey path is likely to lead to such and such a village. The village is a pin point. With an invisible edge. Follow the arrow. Follow the red line.

Tide
LESSON
1
Akis throws water
balloons at the kittens
from the roof.
This is very funny.
Akis is a young boy.
The kittens are young
and have not learned
their lesson.
2
Akis’s father shows him
the insides of a motorbike.
This part causes this belt to go,
this belt causes this wheel to turn,
this fan, this timer, this button.
A word that means arrow, means order.
This, that then, then this.
LIST
Table salt.
Chickpea soup
served Sundays.
Rhododendron-
like oleander
comes in pink,
comes in
white.
Green-blue water
peaks with foam
shifting, shifting.
Someone tied a goat
with roped feet
to a bush on the rock.
So it is dead.
We can see
through its body
and smell the inside
of its head.
1. salt
2. goat
3. white
4. cat
5. brine
6. red clay bowl
RECIPE
Goat cheese does not taste like goat smell
does not taste like goat
In short we ate a kid
that had a name but was destined
for slaughter its name was I think Bob
maybe not I made
a goat cheese ball for the occasion
-2 cloves garlic, hand-cut—use a paring knife
what you want are tiny squares
-handful kalamata olives—a big handful, pitted,
squares again
-an amount of goat cheese
Use a big bowl mix it w/ your bare hands
shape into a ball
The garlic is strong
give it some bread baked w/ olive oil
to hold onto we all need something
THREE HOURS AT THE BLUE TABLE ON THE TERRACE IN THE SHADE OF THE ROCK WALL
Geoff in the olive tree and
Akis the upstairs boy, a cat called Baseball,
I see cow and whitewashed garage
lines of terrace holding in olives, figs.
A city with a single wall turns
all houses into neighbors, each to each, touching,
bus goes by
quick write bus chair table boy boat sun down,
down, blue slip of sea.
*
Little girl in the red shirt
sings in the whitewashed garage that catches
even the mean black birds in singing.
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
la as in hat
her dad puts her in the back of the
truck still singing.
*
A tree making pomegranates
and one making figs
some citrus
these are tomatoes, those
big purple poofs of onion.
RECIPE
A set of instructions. A list. When taken together, and in this order, and in this way, these things are likely to lead to such and such desired outcome. A loaf of bread. A meat pie. As distinguished from recipient or reciprocity. You give the loaf away to—. You give the loaf and get a meat pie in return. You give the loaf and get a good feeling about. Praise be. A copy of a recipe. Transcribed on a new 3 by 5. For use. Grandma Elizabeth’s chickpeas. Traced back to Grandma Lotta’s chickpeas. Back to an island in Greece. Sifnos revithada. Stoneware pea pots all dropped to the baker’s of a Sunday morning before church. Grandma Appolonia’s chickpeas. Pick the pot up after. Some substitutions must be made. ------ for disaster. A copy of a copy. A poor transcription. In shorthand. A completely different alphabet. The original unclear to begin with.
SEA CHANGE
As birds fall
from great heights right
outside our window, drop down
but fly back up easy
just before hitting the ground,
say mint in a jar
purple picked daisies
that still close at night
still love the sun with their wilt.