John Shearer at Attic working it.
1971
photo by Bill Ray
Thursday, June 27, 2019
RENE RICARD ~
God With Revolver
The inside of the body pushes towards the outside
And I push myself through streets full of men
Cafes full of men. I order a coffee from a man
Men push through the street in front of the cafes
Bargain in black eyes
My life overflowing its bounds
I can't buy food, negotiate the streets
or bargain in this life
There are men everywhere the
magnificent saber of Islam in their eyes
Men terrify me
Beauty terrifies me
Beautiful men terrify me
and I would faint in the Barbes mud
the inside of my body pushing towards the outside
I sit in a cafe in Barbes
and a woman walks by in tears
The God of Islam is the God of Love
and I know that love is a terrible thing
and a god of love will finish my life
Love is the steepest bargain
of terrible price. The heart
pushes towards the outside the
heart is a souk
one civilization dents another
pushing towards the outside
and I would pass out in the
market-place men everywhere
My life not such important merchandise
The inside pushes me further out
I would die here without murder or suicide
Barbes or Essaouira full of men
The God of Islam, eighteen
years old. 100 francs a
God with a revolver
Barbes Dec 4, 1981
______________________
Rene Ricard
God With Revolver
Hanuman Books
1989
