Otherworld Canyon

Pahn is by himself in a cabin

in his favorite otherworld canyon        looking

through private treasures

from his past with former lovers           He finds

a catalogue

of inflatable boats

and chooses two…

…He is with Aiks in a water store      talking

to a saleswoman

(who reminds him vaguely of Ahstrild)

They try out

boats in the flooded aisles

that lead to

open

water

 

They are trying        to decide among

the boats in stock

which two they should buy      Aiks

has chosen one       and Pahn

goes back to the cabin

to bring and show 

one that he has chosen

but Aiks points out

the flaws in his craft

and they choose another—

they try to determine if it has a motor

and Pahn is reminded

of another pretty saleswoman

he has spoken to earlier…

                       …at the sales counter    

Pahn has chosen a toy                         

boat full of chicken soup

The man at the counter gives Pahn

                   part of the carcass       but tells Pahn

                     he might want to throw it away

               to avoid the bones 

Pahn puts it in the soup

 anyway

saying                         that he always finds

bones in chicken soup

and he just spits them out

  

  Pahn bites into                                           

           the piece of carcass    and immediately

             finds small bones      which he spits

back onto the soup                            

        in a small pile                                      

and picks off

with his fingers…

…Pahn and Aiks are with Lakhehsis

in a theme park              or shopping center     they walk

 through gardens       and natural displays           At some point

 they are told      to move on      for some reason

by a female security guard    or employee—something

 involving water

 

Aiks and Lakhehsis go on ahead

and soon Pahn sees them

by a sycamore tree     growing out over a large pool 

with a ghost of Yahpehtos       Pahn joins them

and climbs the sycamore      where he breaks off dead 

branches 

The security person comes over       and tells Pahn

that he shouldn’t be up there   but Pahn tells her

that he felt compelled              to clean up the dead

branches in the tree

and that he is an arborist     so its OK 

She tolerates him                     and leaves  

Pahn sees from the tree      in the near distance

a beautiful pool

by a glass window

  of a building

 and walks there with Aiks 

 

Aiks becomes Ahstrild                                 

and comments on how      alluring the water is

and finally    as it is getting dusky      Ahstrild    says

in her girlish defiance

she is going in      even if it isn’t allowed 

Pahn imagines

how cold it is                  and says

that it reminds him of lakes

in the mountains

but what it really reminds him of

                        is a mountain

                      river

flowing

through granite

potholes

Ahstrild prods him    to go in

and finally         he decides to brave it 

Jake Gyllenhaal

and a friend   are sitting on a ledge

next to the window 

Pahn takes off his shirt

and wants    to throw it over to the ledge

but is afraid that  it will get

                                                    wet

 

He calls over to Jake                                                

asking him to make sure   that it doesn’t

fall in the water      and Jake

gets in  and swims

 into the middle 

Pahn throws his shirt

dipping it in the water in the process                          

and jumps in

 

It isn’t as cold as he thought…

…Later Jake                                                  

and friend      recount

trying to swim in an asylum/zoo

and looking for crazy women             wandering

 in their reconstructed habitats—

open

fields                

grassy pens

with casual

keepers…

…Pahn is in the store            in the building

behind the glass window                                          

and sees a series

of containers            like tennis ball containers 

with labels that tell the sequence of  who

        has shown whom    his cabin in his favorite 

otherworld canyon—Steinbeck

showed it to Claudette Colbert 

Claudette showed it to Clark Gable

and after a while

someone showed it to Aiks

and Aiks showed it to Jake…

…after the asylum

after the zoo

      after the swim

after Jake

and the store

but we don’t remember when

At some point      they are in

the city at night      on a road in Italy

 trying to find

a petrol station                                  

that Pahn remembers

                 in front of another building

and Pahn isn’t sure         what to call its color

if it is the red                                          

or the brown                        

or the orange                       

          of Max Lüscher’s color test …

Signature

…dusk        The river

and woods are grey              

Pahn    with a friend

 walking along the bank 

comes upon

Nomioss thinking 

Pahn sees

boys upriver

in the gloom   momentarily sharp

jumping from a high rock 

Nomioss is considering

the root of a tree

that juts

into the water

Pahn wants to explore

under the water

among the snags

and reefs

and walks

 into the river  where

he feels his way

along the bottom       finding

roots and boulders       while

his friend and Nomioss follow on the shore

  Pahn wants to see     He tries opening his eyes

thinking that there might

be enough light from the moon         but

the water is murky

and he only sees a translucent grey…

…They walk into

a warehouse    exploring the large

old      wooden building

It is also grey like the dusk

but it is a more defined      teal grey       They

can hear the rain on the roof

and soon

the roof is leaking sieve-like

so the three of them

make their way out…

…Pahn is in a small     back-room with Daphnis  

He sees an electric bass

picks it up     asking Daphnis

 if he has played it

Daphnis says

he was playing it        earlier

but Yahpehtos told him

it was too loud            Pahn thinks

it will be quiet

if he doesn’t plug it in        but

when he picks it up to play          it is

much louder than he thought possible…

…He is in the main room

trying to play a lap piano

still mindful of Yahpehtos    He realizes

that it doesn’t have black notes—without black notes

he can’t play what he wants 

Daphnis points out

that there are levers

under the keyboard                                                 

and Pahn thinks            perhaps

that he can change

 the pitch half a note…

…signature

gas station      filling out a form

in bright foreign

Pahn watches Hehrmess’ hand moving

Making       thin

delicate lines                 and though the points are sharp

and the lines vertical as usual

they are more refined        and

drawn out slowly        giving

a sense of

thoughtfulness

and sympathy

Yahpehtos

Aiks’ father, a god of wounds.


Otherworld Canyon
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