22 November 2007 - 12:33Anne Waldman with Pavla Jonssonova

[ Pressure ]  

When I see you climb the walls I climb them too
No way out of the cosmic mudhole!
No way out of the telephone booth
The classroom, the igloo
No way out of the church, the temple, the mosque
The A train the D train the noisy bar the department store
No way out of the tunnel
Out of the river the lake the ocean the bay
Of the movie theater the motion picture screen
No way out of the doctorate the M.A. the B.A. the PhD.
The toolshed, the library
No way out of Africa, of Europe, out of Asia,
No escape from the guitar, the bassguitar
No escape from the mailman, the endless mail,
No way out of Christmas, of New Year´s
No way out of the sleeping bag no way no way
No way out of the organic vegetable garden
The deep ravine,
The glistening valley,
The starry night,
The zoo, no escape
The coat hangers no escape
The history of Russia no escape
No way out of prison
No way no way
Out of money even if you’re out of it
The Great Chain of Being, no escape
The Magnetic Field, no escape,
No escape no escape
No way out of brain chemistry
Or pain killers or pain
No way off pleasure
The rainbow, no escape
The World Trade Center no escape
My window no escape
No return no way off
No way out of midnight black midnight now coaxing midnight
gentle midnight no escape 

Audio sample: Anne Waldman with Pani Pavlova Band performing ‘Pressure’, with Arjana Shameti on Czech vocals. Track adapted by Arjana Shameti. 

[ Pratitya Samutpada ]

Do you know this term, my friend?
Which describes the coarising & interconnectedness
of all living things?
If you do this to that, this happens
Or that to that, that happens
Or this to this to that to this to that to that
to this to this to that to that to that, this happens The sun shines
The dreamer lies down in a suit of fresh clothes
The rain falls on her book of runes
The book gets wet
The seasons come round again
The weapon she dreams of turns back
on her in the hands of the person
she never considered in her plot to save the worldAh, web-life, I bow to the book-
magical syllables waiting to be caught
I bow to the mind behind it, the tender grass
I bow to the weapon, to the person who wields it
so it dissolves in the handThis to that to this to that to that to that to this to that
To that to this to this to this to that to that to this to that
By this merit may all obtain omniscience.