HENRY GOLDKAMP
Spill Life with Hammerspace
For as long as societies and economies are inexorably limited in their growth, bound to agrarian cycles of famine and plenty, and
incapable of generating the surplus necessary to finance the development of industry, the deflection of surplus wealth into luxury
and display represents an authentic destruction of goods, a sheer squandering of resources whose bounds cannot be increased.
—Norman Bryson's "Abundance," from Looking at the Overlooked: Four Essays on Still Life Painting
33
it's around this point it starts to get a little boring
but you know
still life
the fucks of my labor
34
i don't know anything about music so
i don't know how to explain it
but i'd like to cue the bugs bunny theme song in like beethoven double-time
(or maybe i mean halftime)
ba-..-dunnah-dun-dun...dun...ba-..-
dunna-dun-dun.dun.dunDa, bu dunnah
dun duhn dah, bludunnah dunt dunt dunt
bunnah dunt duh dahhh
35
how awkward the ratio we flame toward
more bowls than plums
a singular chicken pecks at a lame earth
scratching for rations
skin and bone
pulp and pit
the sinews of which go
hand-in-hand
36
pick it up birdbrain
cradle its peppery white feathers
ads for gas and signage:
"good cluckin' chicken":
reflected in the black eyes of
the thousand foxes surrounding you
god's paparazzi
the flash of cymbal
go on
take your big juicy bite and time
the yardbird loses its wings
a most ugly flight
stuck in your teeth
at your local corporate sports bar
tv on mute
"the root word of corporation means 'body'"
"you're kidding me"
37
who ordered the hubris?
no one? anyone?
well we'll have it
if you're just going to throw it away
38
carrots are a personal favorite
kinda floppy kinda not
always gnarled except the babies
as a sidenote never
ever
shake a baby
carrot it's a terrible look
plain odd
39
introverts fuck heavy with the kitchen scene
outroverts hurling tomatoes at the breeze screen
i say "adjective" and you say "archival"
let's call the whole thing insufferable
40
talk about resolving our titular differences:
Still-Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl
Still Life with Pie, Silver Ewer and Crab
Still Life with a Globe and a Parrot
Still Life with Animal Crackers and Snot
the carry-out is do what you want when you want
but always tip big
41
in terms of restoration technique
flames are fine
leaves curling
a hot little number
42
a pitcher of vanitas
a jug of whine
a knuckle sandwich
child's play pretending the traditional seams on exotic
smashing your glasses
lost in the snow
43
it's your skull inside
the world's wire basket,
sloshing tinnitus with a view
44
i see now
now i see
i don't want to see the sky
its blue stop sign
the vehicles w/in its sheet
do not fall for the curve of bird—
it is no street
what i was made for
45
the cloud's pulley
the bird rope
taste the sweat
between the light and the sun's mask
aerial motion now serial killer
how it shreds me—
this winter,
a laugh riot
smiling at your local law enforcement officer
cumming to celebrity
meeting with an investment banker
eating soup with your hands
the list stops here.
the buck goes on...
46
note to self: commit
grand theft auto,
slap
a bumper sticker on the back
that reads
I <3 THEATRICAL PROPERTY,
drive it off a cliff
fingers crossed
something catches me mid-air
what are you doing this saturday?
47
splats all folks
––––
Henry Goldkamp lives in New Orleans, where he teaches at Louisiana State University, hosts the reading series Splice, edits intermedia for Tilted House, and acts as communications director of New Orleans Poetry Festival. He is the author of Not My Circus (Ursus Americanus, 2025) and JOY BUZZER: A Clown Show (Ricochet Editions, 2025). More at henrygoldkamp.com.