Spooky Poems for Halloween (& All Year Round) by Michael Benedikt
Eerie, Ominous, & Grisly poems mostly from THE BODY, Benedikt's first book of poetry (Wesleyan University Press, l968). l998/99 & Y2K-era selections & revisions.
[Last Modified 9/02 & 10/01. Version 4.0 of this Page for Halloween '02]
Spooky Photo of Author. Click Here for Brief Benedikt Bio. Here for link to Home Page of this site & a couple of somewhat less spooky pictures
Although a Halloween-&-Horror page, parts may not be suitable for younger fright, fear & terror fans. Page is part of a site for college-level & above only--younger persons under supervision, please!
Poems At This Page:
(1) The Eye of The Assassin (2) The Helper (3) Mr. Rainman (4) Some Old Men
(5) To Persuade A Lady (6) The Debris of The Body (7) The Wings of The Nose
& (8) An Afterthought About Autumn: The Autumn Villain
NOTES: Numerals, above, are clickable links. Consoles for optional music appear above titles of poems #1, 3 & 7. "To Persuade A Lady" is from Benedikt's 2nd book of poetry, SKY (Wesleyan, l970). It's a Scary Love Poem, a new literary genre originated by Benedikt & explored in his early books especially.
About.com Featured Site Award
ABOUT THIS PAGE
This is part of a Website-In-Progress with Selected Poems from THE BODY and SKY (Page 4 of 5) Besides Spooky Poems, both books contain other dark poems/poems of 'Black Humor,' as well as many other poem-types
Info on Other Types of Poems/ Themes in THE BODY
Links to Other Pages Within This BODY-SKY Website
The Spooky Poems
A Few Moments of Dusty Autumnal Background Music To play, doubleclick black arrow at left--takes a moment to load, lst time around. Black block to stop. Double vertical to pause. Mini-Console plays autumnal theme twice. It appears--with one exception--every couple of poems. Add-on's optional. THE EYE OF THE ASSASSIN The victim, who tried to run away Lay in parts, just outside the doorway On the porch Between the two front windows At the exact center of the cleft Of the whole house cut in two. Not far off In nearby trees, you could see A large arm, still brandishing an immense axe And peering back-- The satisfied Assassin's eye. THE HELPER To be helpful To lift up someone's eyelid at midnight To observe their lack of vigor To grasp them by one arm and drag them out of the room and downstairs And dress them in an old oilskin against black insects buzzing around a lamp in the hall Then to drag them down the front flight of stairs And to place them gently in the trunk of the car, afterwards locking it carefully for safety Then to drive them out to the country Down all those dark, deserted roads, with only the black night butterflies alert And there, in the country, to find a quiet, relaxing place Perhaps on a knoll or in a darkness-shrouded field or under a bridge with the water tricklings writing maledictions over everything And to bury them there In the oilskin With the insects still keeping their distance And to bury them deeply and undiscoverably --To be this helpful Is unappreciated, often. For more of That Dusty Autumnal Background Music, click black arrow at left. MR. RAINMAN In the rain, an angry outcry: 'Get your hands off my trickling face'! A damp rug my chilled hands Show that we have a rather sinister visitor: A smudge in a soggy grey coat And shoes that hiss on the diningroom table We thought he simply needed a shave but that shadow on Mr. Rainman's cheek actually meant that he was almost completely covered with mosses and various other greens growing there... O my pink-cheeked, innocent young daughter O my daughter in your ancient but hardly yellowed white pinafore what are you doing peeking at him shyly at midnight through the skylight? --& then with puckered lips, sliding down towards him here sailing straight down the bannister... You stand out enough! SOME OLD MEN Nobody understands why these indigent sweepers keep showing up exactly here Every evening at the edge of the Tuileries park To sweep the garden with sweeping equipment of past days Their eyes are dim their hands can barely grip their brooms Faggot brooms bound with old rushes and things And they chatter with excited gestures And should a lady go by wearing only a grey fur coat, high-heeled shoes, and stockings with ragged runs in them, Beneath which is a frock torn partly to shreds They smile at her understandingly, and then begin to whistle innocently and stare up at the sky... Companion of my days, Companion of my evening secrecy! Oh this must be our favorite spot in the Tuileries-- Shaded and calm and only slightly dusty... -------- Note: 'Tuileries'--name of a park in Paris Tip: We'd suggest skipping that Dusty Autumnal Background Music for the next 2 poems, which--although eerie, ominous, & grisly--are a little lighter in tone than the others. Humorous, even. TO PERSUADE A LADY Carpe Diem True, I have always been happy that all the things that are inside the body are inside the body, and that all things outside the body, are out I'm glad to find my lungs on the inside of my chest, for example; if they were outside, they'd keep getting in the way, those two great incipient angel wings; besides, it would be messy I mean, how would it be if your reached out to shake someone's hand and there, in the palm, were a kidney and a liver complete with spleen? Can you imagine standing at 5 PM in a crowded subway car full of empty stomachs? What if a nice, nearsighted old lady were knitting socks and suddenly her veins fell out? How would she avoid creating a substance full of strangeness and pain? To the barefoot country boy sitting on the edge of the bed in the morning and opening Aunt Minnie's gift box, the sight of those socks would be what he'd call 'a real eye-opener!' And what if our voices touched? If our mouths went out, instead of in? If you were inside of me; or, at least, if I were inside of you? THE DEBRIS OF THE BODY The debris of the body is piled up around the foot of the statue, and is also scattered around the landscape. It starts on the statue's shoe And then spreads out until it arrives at a river, where the light debris drifts, and the heavier debris sinks, hitting a fish on the head. The picturesque little town was nestled in a peaceful valley, then the debris of the body came and covered it; now it nestles under ten feet of garbage. A photographer was photographing a lovely mountaintop locale, for a liquor-store calendar, until the debris of the body came and smudged the lens, blurring the photo, inundating the photographer A grizzly bear climbs a tree to escape its flows Like a decade's lemmings--if they were a whole lot slower--or the tides themselves, it creeps down to the edge of the sea. The light debris drifting, the heavy hitting some other fish on the head. There, the sea is inundated with the flower of fallen hair, worn-off skin, fingernail parings, nose pickings, oozed blood, used sperm (love's leavings!), annoying old scabs, tears accidentally escaped from beneath eyelids in the wind, tears meant to be wept, the nether wastes, the shit and piss of the skin, superannuated wart parts, etc. For reprise of That Dusty Autumnal Background Music, click black arrow at left. THE WINGS OF THE NOSE The wings of the nose I sense them fluttering Making a passenger Out of the whole olfactory system While the brain flies along just for fun Where are you going, O wildest of widely wandering wings Where are you taking us, my Sweetie and Me? "I am taking you someplace where you will like it I am taking you to a place where you can rest and enjoy the most important sense of things of all, which is mine. Haven't you given up other pleasures yet? Touch, which is just an irritation Taste, which I view with distaste Hearing, which is designed simply to put a strain on you Sight, which is something I have never quite been able to see Just in case you haven't yet abandoned them come with me now aloft in my own sensational flying machine Spend all your time Wandering with me all day long, not to the places you want to go to but to the places you can't resist going to Let your schedule of appointments be organizing by waftings O follow follow So you will say At the end of the day 'The odor of decay Is the best and the strongest and the sweetest --Even the smell of fire on bone And rich earth' " An Afterthought: About The Halloween Season, Autumn, & Fear of Winter Darkness THE AUTUMN VILLAIN The villain crept by on the slant towards the Southwest and the sunset With his shadow lengthening and following behind him The brim of the enormous black hat he wore was pulled down over his eyes, his nose, and his mouth As if predicting Days to come when he would have to travel in almost total shadows To make up for all his glaring summertime excesses --Penance for both his suns and his sins Big brim! It sloped down and even scraped the ground And when the wind came, draped over the tops of trees And an investigator Trying to peer into his eyes could see only falling leaves.... Earlier versions of "The Eye of The Assassin," "The Helper," "Mr. Rainman," "Some Old Men," "The Debris Of The Body," "The Wings Of The Nose" & "The Autumn Villain" first appeared in THE BODY by Michael Benedikt, published by Wesleyan University Press in l968, © l968 by Michael Benedikt. These revised versions, © l998, l999, 2000 & 2002 by Author. Earlier version of "To Persuade A Lady" first appeared in SKY, by Michael Benedikt, publ. by Wesleyan U. Press in l970, © l970 by Michael Benedikt. Revised ver., © l999 by Author. "Lady"--together with some other Benedikt poems--is also online at website of The Academy of American Poets. Autumnal Music Clip: A theme from film score of Carrie (l976) by Pino Donnagio. (Dust by Benedikt). If you entered this 'Site For All Seasons' at this 8-poem Halloween-page-- for a page with many other, rather haunting & unusual selections from THE BODY Selected Poems from THE BODY Top of Spooky Poems Top of Spooky Page & Contents Table Links to Other Pages Within This BODY-SKY Website Other Types of Poems/Themes in THE BODY This Website includes a page called Thematic Index to Body/Sky. Index categorizes all poems by title/topic. Topics starred [*] here, are followed by Notes & Commentary there. Topics which appear in THE BODY include: The Four Elements--Earth, Air, Water & Fire Childhood & Youth & Growing Up Gardens Time Space Spirituality Love Philosophy [*] Business Social Concerns Esthetics Aging & Death Film & Theatre [*] l960's Art & Artists & Rock Music [*] Besides Spooky Poems, other types of poems in THE BODY include: Poems in Unusual Forms [*] Highly Surrealistic Poems [*] Poems with Multiple Dictional Shifts [*] Links to Other Pages Within This BODY-SKY Website Page 1--Home Page: Benedikt Photos & Bio Includes 1968 photo & 1998 photo (the latter, non-Spooky) . And, more complete bio. info than is given at this page Page 2--Selections from THE BODY Selected poems from key, opening sections of this much anthologized, Surrealism-influenced first book by a contemporary US Poet. Early poems in a wide range of tones--some cheery, lots dark. Page 3--'Dark Love Poems' from THE BODY New Page in '01 Page 4--'Spooky Poems for Halloween (& All Year Round' from THE BODY This Page, of course! Poetry in Horror & Fright genre. With Urban Legends & Other. Page 5--Thematic Index to THE BODY and SKY College-level modern poetry resource. Subject-Index to all poems in author's first two poetry books. Notes & Commentary offer insight on how both came to be written. Focus so far is on the philosophy behind both books, on the multi-media & visual arts background of both, & on innovative techniques used in them. With many photos. 'Thematic' page may be useful as classroom teaching aid. And, helpful to Grad. Students writing theses, or Undergraduate Students writing term-papers for modern poetry courses. Searchbox. Search all 5 pages of this site! Top of Spooky Poems Top of Spooky Page & Contents Table Brief Benedikt Bio. (Complete bio. appears in Who's Who in America; WW in World; WW in Entertainment, Who's Who in American Art, etc.) Selections from other Benedikt books also appear at other Websites Contemporary US Poet Michael Benedikt has published five collections: The Badminton at Great Barrington; or, Gustave Mahler & The Chattanooga Choo-Choo (University of Pittsburgh Press, l980)--a book about the joys & sorrows of love; and with Wesleyan University Press, Night Cries (prose poems, l976); Mole Notes (prose poems, l971); Sky (l970); and The Body (l968). He's also the editor of two landmark poetry anthologies: The Prose Poem: An International Anthology (Dell/Laurel, l976); and The Poetry of Surrealism (Little Brown, l974). A former Poetry Editor of The Paris Review, his editorial selections are represented in The Paris Review Anthology (Norton, l990). Recent poetry published in such literary magazines as Agni, Iowa Review, Jerusalem Review, Lips, Michigan Quarterly Review, The New Republic, New York Quarterly, Partisan Review & Paris Review (where a long poem about Einstein appeared in issue #151 in '99). Benedikt's work appears in ca. 65 anthologies of US poetry. He's taught Literature and Creative Writing as Visiting Professor at Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, Hampshire, and Vassar College/s, and at Boston University; and has read from his poetry at various colleges and bookstores around the USA--most recently at several Barnes & Noble superstores in the NY Metro area. He lives in Manhattan. E-mail at benedit2@aol.com. Info re background of Benedikt Websites via feature article at About.com: 'The Compleat Michael Benedikt--Poet Laureate of The Net' Top of Spooky Page & Contents Table To You, & To Yours, H a p p y H a l l o w e e n ! ! Spooky photo of Benedikt at top of this page by Larry Schwartzwald LINKS TO OTHER BENEDIKT SITES MINI-SITE Poem-in-progress from OF: (a manuscript in progress) re a Halloween-Eve Sci-Fi & Horror program that shook the Nation: 'Of Orson Welles Remarkable l938 Radio Broadcast, The War Of The Worlds' PROSE POEM SITES Brief Prose Poems--short fantasies from the 'Household Hallucinations' section of Benedikt's darkly funny 4th poetry book, Night Cries. Also more about The Prose Poem via interview from Poetry Society of America Newsletter & essay on 'The Future of The Prose Poem' Prose Poems & Microfictions--wide-ranging fantasies from Night Cries. And, book review from London Times Literary Supplement Aloysius Bertrand: Fantasies by First French Prose Poet--Intro to & Selected Prose Poems by a 19th-Century master of dark, Gothic & uncanny poetry who was also a forerunnner of 20th-Cent. Surrealism. Site now has piano suite by Ravel based on 3 of Bertrand's poems. Uncanny music, too--by composer of famed 'Bolero.' OTHER SITES Poems from Boston & Cambridge--Mostly narrative poems. From Transitions (manuscript-in-progress). Site now has a page with a colorful multi-media X m a s E d i t i o n. Incl. graphics & several (non-dusty) musical selections. Bookmark for Xmas Holidays? The Thesaurus And Other New Verse--Poems in a variety of genres. From OF: a 2nd mss-in-progress). Site has a page with '3 Poems In Praise of Peace' Theatre, Film & TV Poems & Info on 20th Cent. Play Anthologies Edited by M.B. Poems about 'Showbiz.' With info on anthos. of French, German, Spanish & US 'Poetic Theatre.' Funny, Surrealistic plays--Black Humor from 'The Theatre of The Absurd.' Also, info on securing rights for public performances of these off-beat plays. (Some, btw, are one-act plays) Site now has 3 Microfictions--Fantasies in tribute to 20th century Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini The Badminton at Great Barrington; or, Gustave Mahler & The Chattanooga Choo-Choo Selections from Benedikt's 5th poetry book. Poems about embattled Love, some comical, some on the dark side OTHER MINI-SITES Poem from OF: re growing up siblingless. A personal variation on the 'Are We Alone' Sci-Fi Theme: 'Of An Only Child's World' Poem from OF: re living alone & liking it: 'Of Living Alone But Not Brooding Too Much About It' Top of Links To Other Benedikt Websites Top of 'Spooky Poems for Halloween' Other Pages Within This BODY-SKY Website Next & Last Page of Site: Thematic Index (with Notes & Photos) Selected Poems from THE BODY On 5/1/00 counter for this page was re-set to zero by host server. Visitors until then: 2730 5/1/00 to present:
A Few Moments of Dusty Autumnal Background Music
To play, doubleclick black arrow at left--takes a moment to load, lst time around. Black block to stop. Double vertical to pause. Mini-Console plays autumnal theme twice. It appears--with one exception--every couple of poems. Add-on's optional.
THE EYE OF THE ASSASSIN
The victim, who tried to run away Lay in parts, just outside the doorway On the porch Between the two front windows At the exact center of the cleft Of the whole house cut in two.
Not far off In nearby trees, you could see A large arm, still brandishing an immense axe And peering back-- The satisfied Assassin's eye.
THE HELPER
To be helpful To lift up someone's eyelid at midnight To observe their lack of vigor To grasp them by one arm and drag them out of the room and downstairs And dress them in an old oilskin against black insects buzzing around a lamp in the hall Then to drag them down the front flight of stairs And to place them gently in the trunk of the car, afterwards locking it carefully for safety Then to drive them out to the country Down all those dark, deserted roads, with only the black night butterflies alert And there, in the country, to find a quiet, relaxing place Perhaps on a knoll or in a darkness-shrouded field or under a bridge with the water tricklings writing maledictions over everything And to bury them there In the oilskin With the insects still keeping their distance And to bury them deeply and undiscoverably
--To be this helpful Is unappreciated, often.
For more of That Dusty Autumnal Background Music, click black arrow at left. MR. RAINMAN In the rain, an angry outcry: 'Get your hands off my trickling face'! A damp rug my chilled hands Show that we have a rather sinister visitor: A smudge in a soggy grey coat And shoes that hiss on the diningroom table We thought he simply needed a shave but that shadow on Mr. Rainman's cheek actually meant that he was almost completely covered with mosses and various other greens growing there... O my pink-cheeked, innocent young daughter O my daughter in your ancient but hardly yellowed white pinafore what are you doing peeking at him shyly at midnight through the skylight? --& then with puckered lips, sliding down towards him here sailing straight down the bannister... You stand out enough! SOME OLD MEN Nobody understands why these indigent sweepers keep showing up exactly here Every evening at the edge of the Tuileries park To sweep the garden with sweeping equipment of past days Their eyes are dim their hands can barely grip their brooms Faggot brooms bound with old rushes and things And they chatter with excited gestures And should a lady go by wearing only a grey fur coat, high-heeled shoes, and stockings with ragged runs in them, Beneath which is a frock torn partly to shreds They smile at her understandingly, and then begin to whistle innocently and stare up at the sky... Companion of my days, Companion of my evening secrecy! Oh this must be our favorite spot in the Tuileries-- Shaded and calm and only slightly dusty... -------- Note: 'Tuileries'--name of a park in Paris Tip: We'd suggest skipping that Dusty Autumnal Background Music for the next 2 poems, which--although eerie, ominous, & grisly--are a little lighter in tone than the others. Humorous, even. TO PERSUADE A LADY Carpe Diem True, I have always been happy that all the things that are inside the body are inside the body, and that all things outside the body, are out I'm glad to find my lungs on the inside of my chest, for example; if they were outside, they'd keep getting in the way, those two great incipient angel wings; besides, it would be messy I mean, how would it be if your reached out to shake someone's hand and there, in the palm, were a kidney and a liver complete with spleen? Can you imagine standing at 5 PM in a crowded subway car full of empty stomachs? What if a nice, nearsighted old lady were knitting socks and suddenly her veins fell out? How would she avoid creating a substance full of strangeness and pain? To the barefoot country boy sitting on the edge of the bed in the morning and opening Aunt Minnie's gift box, the sight of those socks would be what he'd call 'a real eye-opener!' And what if our voices touched? If our mouths went out, instead of in? If you were inside of me; or, at least, if I were inside of you? THE DEBRIS OF THE BODY The debris of the body is piled up around the foot of the statue, and is also scattered around the landscape. It starts on the statue's shoe And then spreads out until it arrives at a river, where the light debris drifts, and the heavier debris sinks, hitting a fish on the head. The picturesque little town was nestled in a peaceful valley, then the debris of the body came and covered it; now it nestles under ten feet of garbage. A photographer was photographing a lovely mountaintop locale, for a liquor-store calendar, until the debris of the body came and smudged the lens, blurring the photo, inundating the photographer A grizzly bear climbs a tree to escape its flows Like a decade's lemmings--if they were a whole lot slower--or the tides themselves, it creeps down to the edge of the sea. The light debris drifting, the heavy hitting some other fish on the head. There, the sea is inundated with the flower of fallen hair, worn-off skin, fingernail parings, nose pickings, oozed blood, used sperm (love's leavings!), annoying old scabs, tears accidentally escaped from beneath eyelids in the wind, tears meant to be wept, the nether wastes, the shit and piss of the skin, superannuated wart parts, etc. For reprise of That Dusty Autumnal Background Music, click black arrow at left. THE WINGS OF THE NOSE The wings of the nose I sense them fluttering Making a passenger Out of the whole olfactory system While the brain flies along just for fun Where are you going, O wildest of widely wandering wings Where are you taking us, my Sweetie and Me? "I am taking you someplace where you will like it I am taking you to a place where you can rest and enjoy the most important sense of things of all, which is mine. Haven't you given up other pleasures yet? Touch, which is just an irritation Taste, which I view with distaste Hearing, which is designed simply to put a strain on you Sight, which is something I have never quite been able to see Just in case you haven't yet abandoned them come with me now aloft in my own sensational flying machine Spend all your time Wandering with me all day long, not to the places you want to go to but to the places you can't resist going to Let your schedule of appointments be organizing by waftings O follow follow So you will say At the end of the day 'The odor of decay Is the best and the strongest and the sweetest --Even the smell of fire on bone And rich earth' " An Afterthought: About The Halloween Season, Autumn, & Fear of Winter Darkness THE AUTUMN VILLAIN The villain crept by on the slant towards the Southwest and the sunset With his shadow lengthening and following behind him The brim of the enormous black hat he wore was pulled down over his eyes, his nose, and his mouth As if predicting Days to come when he would have to travel in almost total shadows To make up for all his glaring summertime excesses --Penance for both his suns and his sins Big brim! It sloped down and even scraped the ground And when the wind came, draped over the tops of trees And an investigator Trying to peer into his eyes could see only falling leaves.... Earlier versions of "The Eye of The Assassin," "The Helper," "Mr. Rainman," "Some Old Men," "The Debris Of The Body," "The Wings Of The Nose" & "The Autumn Villain" first appeared in THE BODY by Michael Benedikt, published by Wesleyan University Press in l968, © l968 by Michael Benedikt. These revised versions, © l998, l999, 2000 & 2002 by Author. Earlier version of "To Persuade A Lady" first appeared in SKY, by Michael Benedikt, publ. by Wesleyan U. Press in l970, © l970 by Michael Benedikt. Revised ver., © l999 by Author. "Lady"--together with some other Benedikt poems--is also online at website of The Academy of American Poets. Autumnal Music Clip: A theme from film score of Carrie (l976) by Pino Donnagio. (Dust by Benedikt). If you entered this 'Site For All Seasons' at this 8-poem Halloween-page-- for a page with many other, rather haunting & unusual selections from THE BODY Selected Poems from THE BODY Top of Spooky Poems Top of Spooky Page & Contents Table Links to Other Pages Within This BODY-SKY Website Other Types of Poems/Themes in THE BODY This Website includes a page called Thematic Index to Body/Sky. Index categorizes all poems by title/topic. Topics starred [*] here, are followed by Notes & Commentary there. Topics which appear in THE BODY include: The Four Elements--Earth, Air, Water & Fire Childhood & Youth & Growing Up Gardens Time Space Spirituality Love Philosophy [*] Business Social Concerns Esthetics Aging & Death Film & Theatre [*] l960's Art & Artists & Rock Music [*] Besides Spooky Poems, other types of poems in THE BODY include: Poems in Unusual Forms [*] Highly Surrealistic Poems [*] Poems with Multiple Dictional Shifts [*] Links to Other Pages Within This BODY-SKY Website Page 1--Home Page: Benedikt Photos & Bio Includes 1968 photo & 1998 photo (the latter, non-Spooky) . And, more complete bio. info than is given at this page Page 2--Selections from THE BODY Selected poems from key, opening sections of this much anthologized, Surrealism-influenced first book by a contemporary US Poet. Early poems in a wide range of tones--some cheery, lots dark. Page 3--'Dark Love Poems' from THE BODY New Page in '01 Page 4--'Spooky Poems for Halloween (& All Year Round' from THE BODY This Page, of course! Poetry in Horror & Fright genre. With Urban Legends & Other. Page 5--Thematic Index to THE BODY and SKY College-level modern poetry resource. Subject-Index to all poems in author's first two poetry books. Notes & Commentary offer insight on how both came to be written. Focus so far is on the philosophy behind both books, on the multi-media & visual arts background of both, & on innovative techniques used in them. With many photos. 'Thematic' page may be useful as classroom teaching aid. And, helpful to Grad. Students writing theses, or Undergraduate Students writing term-papers for modern poetry courses. Searchbox. Search all 5 pages of this site! Top of Spooky Poems Top of Spooky Page & Contents Table Brief Benedikt Bio. (Complete bio. appears in Who's Who in America; WW in World; WW in Entertainment, Who's Who in American Art, etc.) Selections from other Benedikt books also appear at other Websites Contemporary US Poet Michael Benedikt has published five collections: The Badminton at Great Barrington; or, Gustave Mahler & The Chattanooga Choo-Choo (University of Pittsburgh Press, l980)--a book about the joys & sorrows of love; and with Wesleyan University Press, Night Cries (prose poems, l976); Mole Notes (prose poems, l971); Sky (l970); and The Body (l968). He's also the editor of two landmark poetry anthologies: The Prose Poem: An International Anthology (Dell/Laurel, l976); and The Poetry of Surrealism (Little Brown, l974). A former Poetry Editor of The Paris Review, his editorial selections are represented in The Paris Review Anthology (Norton, l990). Recent poetry published in such literary magazines as Agni, Iowa Review, Jerusalem Review, Lips, Michigan Quarterly Review, The New Republic, New York Quarterly, Partisan Review & Paris Review (where a long poem about Einstein appeared in issue #151 in '99). Benedikt's work appears in ca. 65 anthologies of US poetry. He's taught Literature and Creative Writing as Visiting Professor at Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, Hampshire, and Vassar College/s, and at Boston University; and has read from his poetry at various colleges and bookstores around the USA--most recently at several Barnes & Noble superstores in the NY Metro area. He lives in Manhattan. E-mail at benedit2@aol.com. Info re background of Benedikt Websites via feature article at About.com: 'The Compleat Michael Benedikt--Poet Laureate of The Net' Top of Spooky Page & Contents Table To You, & To Yours, H a p p y H a l l o w e e n ! ! Spooky photo of Benedikt at top of this page by Larry Schwartzwald LINKS TO OTHER BENEDIKT SITES MINI-SITE Poem-in-progress from OF: (a manuscript in progress) re a Halloween-Eve Sci-Fi & Horror program that shook the Nation: 'Of Orson Welles Remarkable l938 Radio Broadcast, The War Of The Worlds' PROSE POEM SITES Brief Prose Poems--short fantasies from the 'Household Hallucinations' section of Benedikt's darkly funny 4th poetry book, Night Cries. Also more about The Prose Poem via interview from Poetry Society of America Newsletter & essay on 'The Future of The Prose Poem' Prose Poems & Microfictions--wide-ranging fantasies from Night Cries. And, book review from London Times Literary Supplement Aloysius Bertrand: Fantasies by First French Prose Poet--Intro to & Selected Prose Poems by a 19th-Century master of dark, Gothic & uncanny poetry who was also a forerunnner of 20th-Cent. Surrealism. Site now has piano suite by Ravel based on 3 of Bertrand's poems. Uncanny music, too--by composer of famed 'Bolero.' OTHER SITES Poems from Boston & Cambridge--Mostly narrative poems. From Transitions (manuscript-in-progress). Site now has a page with a colorful multi-media X m a s E d i t i o n. Incl. graphics & several (non-dusty) musical selections. Bookmark for Xmas Holidays? The Thesaurus And Other New Verse--Poems in a variety of genres. From OF: a 2nd mss-in-progress). Site has a page with '3 Poems In Praise of Peace' Theatre, Film & TV Poems & Info on 20th Cent. Play Anthologies Edited by M.B. Poems about 'Showbiz.' With info on anthos. of French, German, Spanish & US 'Poetic Theatre.' Funny, Surrealistic plays--Black Humor from 'The Theatre of The Absurd.' Also, info on securing rights for public performances of these off-beat plays. (Some, btw, are one-act plays) Site now has 3 Microfictions--Fantasies in tribute to 20th century Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini The Badminton at Great Barrington; or, Gustave Mahler & The Chattanooga Choo-Choo Selections from Benedikt's 5th poetry book. Poems about embattled Love, some comical, some on the dark side OTHER MINI-SITES Poem from OF: re growing up siblingless. A personal variation on the 'Are We Alone' Sci-Fi Theme: 'Of An Only Child's World' Poem from OF: re living alone & liking it: 'Of Living Alone But Not Brooding Too Much About It' Top of Links To Other Benedikt Websites Top of 'Spooky Poems for Halloween' Other Pages Within This BODY-SKY Website Next & Last Page of Site: Thematic Index (with Notes & Photos) Selected Poems from THE BODY On 5/1/00 counter for this page was re-set to zero by host server. Visitors until then: 2730 5/1/00 to present:
MR. RAINMAN
In the rain, an angry outcry: 'Get your hands off my trickling face'! A damp rug my chilled hands Show that we have a rather sinister visitor: A smudge in a soggy grey coat And shoes that hiss on the diningroom table
We thought he simply needed a shave but that shadow on Mr. Rainman's cheek actually meant that he was almost completely covered with mosses and various other greens growing there...
O my pink-cheeked, innocent young daughter O my daughter in your ancient but hardly yellowed white pinafore what are you doing peeking at him shyly at midnight through the skylight? --& then with puckered lips, sliding down towards him here sailing straight down the bannister...
You stand out enough!
SOME OLD MEN
Nobody understands why these indigent sweepers keep showing up exactly here Every evening at the edge of the Tuileries park To sweep the garden with sweeping equipment of past days
Their eyes are dim their hands can barely grip their brooms Faggot brooms bound with old rushes and things And they chatter with excited gestures
And should a lady go by wearing only a grey fur coat, high-heeled shoes, and stockings with ragged runs in them, Beneath which is a frock torn partly to shreds They smile at her understandingly, and then begin to whistle innocently and stare up at the sky...
Companion of my days, Companion of my evening secrecy! Oh this must be our favorite spot in the Tuileries-- Shaded and calm and only slightly dusty...
--------
Note: 'Tuileries'--name of a park in Paris
Tip: We'd suggest skipping that Dusty Autumnal Background Music for the next 2 poems, which--although eerie, ominous, & grisly--are a little lighter in tone than the others. Humorous, even.
TO PERSUADE A LADY
Carpe Diem
True, I have always been happy that all the things that are inside the body are inside the body, and that all things outside the body, are out I'm glad to find my lungs on the inside of my chest, for example; if they were outside, they'd keep getting in the way, those two great incipient angel wings; besides, it would be messy I mean, how would it be if your reached out to shake someone's hand and there, in the palm, were a kidney and a liver complete with spleen? Can you imagine standing at 5 PM in a crowded subway car full of empty stomachs? What if a nice, nearsighted old lady were knitting socks and suddenly her veins fell out? How would she avoid creating a substance full of strangeness and pain? To the barefoot country boy sitting on the edge of the bed in the morning and opening Aunt Minnie's gift box, the sight of those socks would be what he'd call 'a real eye-opener!' And what if our voices touched? If our mouths went out, instead of in? If you were inside of me; or, at least, if I were inside of you?
THE DEBRIS OF THE BODY
The debris of the body is piled up around the foot of the statue, and is also scattered around the landscape. It starts on the statue's shoe And then spreads out until it arrives at a river, where the light debris drifts, and the heavier debris sinks, hitting a fish on the head. The picturesque little town was nestled in a peaceful valley, then the debris of the body came and covered it; now it nestles under ten feet of garbage. A photographer was photographing a lovely mountaintop locale, for a liquor-store calendar, until the debris of the body came and smudged the lens, blurring the photo, inundating the photographer A grizzly bear climbs a tree to escape its flows Like a decade's lemmings--if they were a whole lot slower--or the tides themselves, it creeps down to the edge of the sea. The light debris drifting, the heavy hitting some other fish on the head. There, the sea is inundated with the flower of fallen hair, worn-off skin, fingernail parings, nose pickings, oozed blood, used sperm (love's leavings!), annoying old scabs, tears accidentally escaped from beneath eyelids in the wind, tears meant to be wept, the nether wastes, the shit and piss of the skin, superannuated wart parts, etc.
For reprise of That Dusty Autumnal Background Music, click black arrow at left. THE WINGS OF THE NOSE The wings of the nose I sense them fluttering Making a passenger Out of the whole olfactory system While the brain flies along just for fun Where are you going, O wildest of widely wandering wings Where are you taking us, my Sweetie and Me? "I am taking you someplace where you will like it I am taking you to a place where you can rest and enjoy the most important sense of things of all, which is mine. Haven't you given up other pleasures yet? Touch, which is just an irritation Taste, which I view with distaste Hearing, which is designed simply to put a strain on you Sight, which is something I have never quite been able to see Just in case you haven't yet abandoned them come with me now aloft in my own sensational flying machine Spend all your time Wandering with me all day long, not to the places you want to go to but to the places you can't resist going to Let your schedule of appointments be organizing by waftings O follow follow So you will say At the end of the day 'The odor of decay Is the best and the strongest and the sweetest --Even the smell of fire on bone And rich earth' " An Afterthought: About The Halloween Season, Autumn, & Fear of Winter Darkness THE AUTUMN VILLAIN The villain crept by on the slant towards the Southwest and the sunset With his shadow lengthening and following behind him The brim of the enormous black hat he wore was pulled down over his eyes, his nose, and his mouth As if predicting Days to come when he would have to travel in almost total shadows To make up for all his glaring summertime excesses --Penance for both his suns and his sins Big brim! It sloped down and even scraped the ground And when the wind came, draped over the tops of trees And an investigator Trying to peer into his eyes could see only falling leaves.... Earlier versions of "The Eye of The Assassin," "The Helper," "Mr. Rainman," "Some Old Men," "The Debris Of The Body," "The Wings Of The Nose" & "The Autumn Villain" first appeared in THE BODY by Michael Benedikt, published by Wesleyan University Press in l968, © l968 by Michael Benedikt. These revised versions, © l998, l999, 2000 & 2002 by Author. Earlier version of "To Persuade A Lady" first appeared in SKY, by Michael Benedikt, publ. by Wesleyan U. Press in l970, © l970 by Michael Benedikt. Revised ver., © l999 by Author. "Lady"--together with some other Benedikt poems--is also online at website of The Academy of American Poets. Autumnal Music Clip: A theme from film score of Carrie (l976) by Pino Donnagio. (Dust by Benedikt). If you entered this 'Site For All Seasons' at this 8-poem Halloween-page-- for a page with many other, rather haunting & unusual selections from THE BODY Selected Poems from THE BODY Top of Spooky Poems Top of Spooky Page & Contents Table Links to Other Pages Within This BODY-SKY Website Other Types of Poems/Themes in THE BODY This Website includes a page called Thematic Index to Body/Sky. Index categorizes all poems by title/topic. Topics starred [*] here, are followed by Notes & Commentary there. Topics which appear in THE BODY include: The Four Elements--Earth, Air, Water & Fire Childhood & Youth & Growing Up Gardens Time Space Spirituality Love Philosophy [*] Business Social Concerns Esthetics Aging & Death Film & Theatre [*] l960's Art & Artists & Rock Music [*] Besides Spooky Poems, other types of poems in THE BODY include: Poems in Unusual Forms [*] Highly Surrealistic Poems [*] Poems with Multiple Dictional Shifts [*] Links to Other Pages Within This BODY-SKY Website Page 1--Home Page: Benedikt Photos & Bio Includes 1968 photo & 1998 photo (the latter, non-Spooky) . And, more complete bio. info than is given at this page Page 2--Selections from THE BODY Selected poems from key, opening sections of this much anthologized, Surrealism-influenced first book by a contemporary US Poet. Early poems in a wide range of tones--some cheery, lots dark. Page 3--'Dark Love Poems' from THE BODY New Page in '01 Page 4--'Spooky Poems for Halloween (& All Year Round' from THE BODY This Page, of course! Poetry in Horror & Fright genre. With Urban Legends & Other. Page 5--Thematic Index to THE BODY and SKY College-level modern poetry resource. Subject-Index to all poems in author's first two poetry books. Notes & Commentary offer insight on how both came to be written. Focus so far is on the philosophy behind both books, on the multi-media & visual arts background of both, & on innovative techniques used in them. With many photos. 'Thematic' page may be useful as classroom teaching aid. And, helpful to Grad. Students writing theses, or Undergraduate Students writing term-papers for modern poetry courses. Searchbox. Search all 5 pages of this site! Top of Spooky Poems Top of Spooky Page & Contents Table Brief Benedikt Bio. (Complete bio. appears in Who's Who in America; WW in World; WW in Entertainment, Who's Who in American Art, etc.) Selections from other Benedikt books also appear at other Websites Contemporary US Poet Michael Benedikt has published five collections: The Badminton at Great Barrington; or, Gustave Mahler & The Chattanooga Choo-Choo (University of Pittsburgh Press, l980)--a book about the joys & sorrows of love; and with Wesleyan University Press, Night Cries (prose poems, l976); Mole Notes (prose poems, l971); Sky (l970); and The Body (l968). He's also the editor of two landmark poetry anthologies: The Prose Poem: An International Anthology (Dell/Laurel, l976); and The Poetry of Surrealism (Little Brown, l974). A former Poetry Editor of The Paris Review, his editorial selections are represented in The Paris Review Anthology (Norton, l990). Recent poetry published in such literary magazines as Agni, Iowa Review, Jerusalem Review, Lips, Michigan Quarterly Review, The New Republic, New York Quarterly, Partisan Review & Paris Review (where a long poem about Einstein appeared in issue #151 in '99). Benedikt's work appears in ca. 65 anthologies of US poetry. He's taught Literature and Creative Writing as Visiting Professor at Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, Hampshire, and Vassar College/s, and at Boston University; and has read from his poetry at various colleges and bookstores around the USA--most recently at several Barnes & Noble superstores in the NY Metro area. He lives in Manhattan. E-mail at benedit2@aol.com. Info re background of Benedikt Websites via feature article at About.com: 'The Compleat Michael Benedikt--Poet Laureate of The Net' Top of Spooky Page & Contents Table To You, & To Yours, H a p p y H a l l o w e e n ! ! Spooky photo of Benedikt at top of this page by Larry Schwartzwald LINKS TO OTHER BENEDIKT SITES MINI-SITE Poem-in-progress from OF: (a manuscript in progress) re a Halloween-Eve Sci-Fi & Horror program that shook the Nation: 'Of Orson Welles Remarkable l938 Radio Broadcast, The War Of The Worlds' PROSE POEM SITES Brief Prose Poems--short fantasies from the 'Household Hallucinations' section of Benedikt's darkly funny 4th poetry book, Night Cries. Also more about The Prose Poem via interview from Poetry Society of America Newsletter & essay on 'The Future of The Prose Poem' Prose Poems & Microfictions--wide-ranging fantasies from Night Cries. And, book review from London Times Literary Supplement Aloysius Bertrand: Fantasies by First French Prose Poet--Intro to & Selected Prose Poems by a 19th-Century master of dark, Gothic & uncanny poetry who was also a forerunnner of 20th-Cent. Surrealism. Site now has piano suite by Ravel based on 3 of Bertrand's poems. Uncanny music, too--by composer of famed 'Bolero.' OTHER SITES Poems from Boston & Cambridge--Mostly narrative poems. From Transitions (manuscript-in-progress). Site now has a page with a colorful multi-media X m a s E d i t i o n. Incl. graphics & several (non-dusty) musical selections. Bookmark for Xmas Holidays? The Thesaurus And Other New Verse--Poems in a variety of genres. From OF: a 2nd mss-in-progress). Site has a page with '3 Poems In Praise of Peace' Theatre, Film & TV Poems & Info on 20th Cent. Play Anthologies Edited by M.B. Poems about 'Showbiz.' With info on anthos. of French, German, Spanish & US 'Poetic Theatre.' Funny, Surrealistic plays--Black Humor from 'The Theatre of The Absurd.' Also, info on securing rights for public performances of these off-beat plays. (Some, btw, are one-act plays) Site now has 3 Microfictions--Fantasies in tribute to 20th century Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini The Badminton at Great Barrington; or, Gustave Mahler & The Chattanooga Choo-Choo Selections from Benedikt's 5th poetry book. Poems about embattled Love, some comical, some on the dark side OTHER MINI-SITES Poem from OF: re growing up siblingless. A personal variation on the 'Are We Alone' Sci-Fi Theme: 'Of An Only Child's World' Poem from OF: re living alone & liking it: 'Of Living Alone But Not Brooding Too Much About It' Top of Links To Other Benedikt Websites Top of 'Spooky Poems for Halloween' Other Pages Within This BODY-SKY Website Next & Last Page of Site: Thematic Index (with Notes & Photos) Selected Poems from THE BODY On 5/1/00 counter for this page was re-set to zero by host server. Visitors until then: 2730 5/1/00 to present:
THE WINGS OF THE NOSE
The wings of the nose I sense them fluttering Making a passenger Out of the whole olfactory system While the brain flies along just for fun Where are you going, O wildest of widely wandering wings Where are you taking us, my Sweetie and Me?
"I am taking you someplace where you will like it I am taking you to a place where you can rest and enjoy the most important sense of things of all, which is mine. Haven't you given up other pleasures yet? Touch, which is just an irritation Taste, which I view with distaste Hearing, which is designed simply to put a strain on you Sight, which is something I have never quite been able to see Just in case you haven't yet abandoned them come with me now aloft in my own sensational flying machine Spend all your time Wandering with me all day long, not to the places you want to go to but to the places you can't resist going to Let your schedule of appointments be organizing by waftings O follow follow
So you will say At the end of the day 'The odor of decay Is the best and the strongest and the sweetest --Even the smell of fire on bone And rich earth' "
An Afterthought:
About The Halloween Season, Autumn, & Fear of Winter Darkness
THE AUTUMN VILLAIN
The villain crept by on the slant towards the Southwest and the sunset With his shadow lengthening and following behind him
The brim of the enormous black hat he wore was pulled down over his eyes, his nose, and his mouth As if predicting Days to come when he would have to travel in almost total shadows To make up for all his glaring summertime excesses --Penance for both his suns and his sins
Big brim! It sloped down and even scraped the ground And when the wind came, draped over the tops of trees
And an investigator Trying to peer into his eyes could see only falling leaves....
Earlier versions of "The Eye of The Assassin," "The Helper," "Mr. Rainman," "Some Old Men," "The Debris Of The Body," "The Wings Of The Nose" & "The Autumn Villain" first appeared in THE BODY by Michael Benedikt, published by Wesleyan University Press in l968, © l968 by Michael Benedikt. These revised versions, © l998, l999, 2000 & 2002 by Author. Earlier version of "To Persuade A Lady" first appeared in SKY, by Michael Benedikt, publ. by Wesleyan U. Press in l970, © l970 by Michael Benedikt. Revised ver., © l999 by Author. "Lady"--together with some other Benedikt poems--is also online at website of The Academy of American Poets. Autumnal Music Clip: A theme from film score of Carrie (l976) by Pino Donnagio. (Dust by Benedikt).
If you entered this 'Site For All Seasons' at this 8-poem Halloween-page-- for a page with many other, rather haunting & unusual selections from THE BODY
Selected Poems from THE BODY
Top of Spooky Poems Top of Spooky Page & Contents Table
Other Types of Poems/Themes in THE BODY
This Website includes a page called Thematic Index to Body/Sky. Index categorizes all poems by title/topic. Topics starred [*] here, are followed by Notes & Commentary there. Topics which appear in THE BODY include:
The Four Elements--Earth, Air, Water & Fire Childhood & Youth & Growing Up Gardens Time Space Spirituality Love Philosophy [*] Business Social Concerns Esthetics Aging & Death Film & Theatre [*] l960's Art & Artists & Rock Music [*]
Besides Spooky Poems, other types of poems in THE BODY include:
Poems in Unusual Forms [*] Highly Surrealistic Poems [*] Poems with Multiple Dictional Shifts [*]
Page 1--Home Page: Benedikt Photos & Bio Includes 1968 photo & 1998 photo (the latter, non-Spooky) . And, more complete bio. info than is given at this page
Page 2--Selections from THE BODY Selected poems from key, opening sections of this much anthologized, Surrealism-influenced first book by a contemporary US Poet. Early poems in a wide range of tones--some cheery, lots dark.
Page 3--'Dark Love Poems' from THE BODY New Page in '01
Page 4--'Spooky Poems for Halloween (& All Year Round' from THE BODY This Page, of course! Poetry in Horror & Fright genre. With Urban Legends & Other.
Page 5--Thematic Index to THE BODY and SKY College-level modern poetry resource. Subject-Index to all poems in author's first two poetry books. Notes & Commentary offer insight on how both came to be written. Focus so far is on the philosophy behind both books, on the multi-media & visual arts background of both, & on innovative techniques used in them. With many photos. 'Thematic' page may be useful as classroom teaching aid. And, helpful to Grad. Students writing theses, or Undergraduate Students writing term-papers for modern poetry courses. Searchbox. Search all 5 pages of this site!
Brief Benedikt Bio.
(Complete bio. appears in Who's Who in America; WW in World; WW in Entertainment, Who's Who in American Art, etc.)
Selections from other Benedikt books also appear at other Websites
Contemporary US Poet Michael Benedikt has published five collections: The Badminton at Great Barrington; or, Gustave Mahler & The Chattanooga Choo-Choo (University of Pittsburgh Press, l980)--a book about the joys & sorrows of love; and with Wesleyan University Press, Night Cries (prose poems, l976); Mole Notes (prose poems, l971); Sky (l970); and The Body (l968). He's also the editor of two landmark poetry anthologies: The Prose Poem: An International Anthology (Dell/Laurel, l976); and The Poetry of Surrealism (Little Brown, l974). A former Poetry Editor of The Paris Review, his editorial selections are represented in The Paris Review Anthology (Norton, l990). Recent poetry published in such literary magazines as Agni, Iowa Review, Jerusalem Review, Lips, Michigan Quarterly Review, The New Republic, New York Quarterly, Partisan Review & Paris Review (where a long poem about Einstein appeared in issue #151 in '99). Benedikt's work appears in ca. 65 anthologies of US poetry. He's taught Literature and Creative Writing as Visiting Professor at Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, Hampshire, and Vassar College/s, and at Boston University; and has read from his poetry at various colleges and bookstores around the USA--most recently at several Barnes & Noble superstores in the NY Metro area. He lives in Manhattan. E-mail at benedit2@aol.com.
Info re background of Benedikt Websites via feature article at About.com: 'The Compleat Michael Benedikt--Poet Laureate of The Net'
Top of Spooky Page & Contents Table
To You, & To Yours, H a p p y H a l l o w e e n ! !
Spooky photo of Benedikt at top of this page by Larry Schwartzwald
LINKS TO OTHER BENEDIKT SITES
MINI-SITE
Poem-in-progress from OF: (a manuscript in progress) re a Halloween-Eve Sci-Fi & Horror program that shook the Nation: 'Of Orson Welles Remarkable l938 Radio Broadcast, The War Of The Worlds'
PROSE POEM SITES
Brief Prose Poems--short fantasies from the 'Household Hallucinations' section of Benedikt's darkly funny 4th poetry book, Night Cries. Also more about The Prose Poem via interview from Poetry Society of America Newsletter & essay on 'The Future of The Prose Poem'
Prose Poems & Microfictions--wide-ranging fantasies from Night Cries. And, book review from London Times Literary Supplement
Aloysius Bertrand: Fantasies by First French Prose Poet--Intro to & Selected Prose Poems by a 19th-Century master of dark, Gothic & uncanny poetry who was also a forerunnner of 20th-Cent. Surrealism. Site now has piano suite by Ravel based on 3 of Bertrand's poems. Uncanny music, too--by composer of famed 'Bolero.'
OTHER SITES
Poems from Boston & Cambridge--Mostly narrative poems. From Transitions (manuscript-in-progress). Site now has a page with a colorful multi-media X m a s E d i t i o n. Incl. graphics & several (non-dusty) musical selections. Bookmark for Xmas Holidays?
The Thesaurus And Other New Verse--Poems in a variety of genres. From OF: a 2nd mss-in-progress). Site has a page with '3 Poems In Praise of Peace'
Theatre, Film & TV Poems & Info on 20th Cent. Play Anthologies Edited by M.B. Poems about 'Showbiz.' With info on anthos. of French, German, Spanish & US 'Poetic Theatre.' Funny, Surrealistic plays--Black Humor from 'The Theatre of The Absurd.' Also, info on securing rights for public performances of these off-beat plays. (Some, btw, are one-act plays) Site now has 3 Microfictions--Fantasies in tribute to 20th century Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini
The Badminton at Great Barrington; or, Gustave Mahler & The Chattanooga Choo-Choo Selections from Benedikt's 5th poetry book. Poems about embattled Love, some comical, some on the dark side
OTHER MINI-SITES
Poem from OF: re growing up siblingless. A personal variation on the 'Are We Alone' Sci-Fi Theme: 'Of An Only Child's World'
Poem from OF: re living alone & liking it: 'Of Living Alone But Not Brooding Too Much About It'
Top of Links To Other Benedikt Websites
Top of 'Spooky Poems for Halloween'
Other Pages Within This BODY-SKY Website
Next & Last Page of Site: Thematic Index (with Notes & Photos)
On 5/1/00 counter for this page was re-set to zero by host server. Visitors until then:
2730
5/1/00 to present: