Snow on Mount Saint Helena
the mountain behind me, I drove south & west
passed three Angels in Valley Ford
five more & a girl at the crossroads to Tomales
& four gassed up at Point Reyes Station, roared away
chrome & hair catching sunlight, to the north
to join the others
Billy & Toby were off, again
to Oregon, as per
I Ching, The Book of Chnges
going thru changes
like music
harmoniously, minor discords
like she burned or threw away everything, always
burns her bridges
pulled the old light out of the ceiling
tore the wires loose, all connections
change gears
Angels at every turn
all crossed roads
both sides, the streets lined with Harleys, choppers
of every description
he opened her coat
& held it open
carefully & with expert eye
examined
what she had to offer
so to speak, as it were
a whole world
& nothing ever dies, it's all here
on every road, behind every tree
growing out of the ground, a beautiful
fire, flames
I'm grinning
exhaust, carbon
diamonds & threads
my mind is filled with diamonds & threads
we go off in all directions, thru intersections & crossed roads
a necklace to live in
_________________________
JAMES KOLLER
POEMS for the BLUE SKY
Black Sparrow Press, 1976
___________________________________
A gorgeous book of poems, if you can find
yourself a copy, spanning the wealth of one decade —
the 1960s, which Koller had a vivid and active eye to.
Along with poems that come from the vanished, are the
poets versions of songs of the Tlinget and the
Teton Sioux, working after John R. Swanton
and Frances Densmore. One of Koller's
loveliest poems is also here, "Wind"
which reads the best in the context of all the book.
Less than 100 pages and every page a gem.
I BUILD WITH AN AXE
[BA]
photograph of James Koller
by Alo Zanetta
