There are many interesting people, interesting things and ideas and
opportunities, and unresolved thoughts that need to be talked about, but
haven't been.
Stop hanging out with the stoners what's wrong with you the art fags are literally
right there.
I know I've lost my memory.
Be cognizant of this dilemma.
If you're a Scientologist you see things as they are.
The word 'true' is a supplement added to certain trials of strength to dazzle those
who might still question them.
It's like watching a three-legged dog trying to hump.
Do the bottle thing below and put a poem in it too.
Bitch, I will chase you down and take your shoes.
Maybe you should work that out with a therapist.
Going mad is just the beginning of the terror.
A power poltergeist has invaded my doorbell.
Well, it's 5 o'clock somewhere.
You are currently dating without benefits.
I like to lean and sleep during the plane ride.
Next time you see me smiling, kill me quick.
Odd moment of excitement in the final product.
Biracial babies are the Chanel bag of babies.
Vanity never needs to be denied.
I'm a 35 year old turtle from Seaworld, California.
I try to stay clear of the public as much as possible.
The sea is the night asleep in the daytime.
Too bad the result will not be functional.
Water is a well known example of such a material.
And I even dislike hot dogs.
While we don't expect everyone to be immediately comfortable with this type of
exploration, we do want to make it clear that it's perfectly acceptable and
in no way strange or perverse.
Seasonal body panic isn't a new phenomenon.
I do like the monkey ones better.
Notes on the Text:
555 is a collection of sonnets whose construction is database-driven and relies on text analytic software. I crunched and analyzed Shakespeare's sonnets to arrive at averages for word, syllable and character (inclusive of punctuation but not spaces). These averages (101 words, 129 syllables, 437 characters) became requirements for three groups of sonnets. I collected lines from anywhere and everywhere in the air or in print in a database. The lines are all found, their arrangement is mine. Values for word, syllable and character were recorded. Typos and grammatical oddities were preserved; only initial capitals and a closing period have been added as needed. The selection of lines isn't rule-driven and inevitably reflects what I read, watch, and listen to, thus incorporating my slurs and my passions as well as what amuses and disturbs me. These sonnets were assembled using nonce patterns or number schemes; by ear, notion, or loose association; by tense, lexis, tone or alliteration. Every sonnet matches its targeted average exactly. Think of Pound's "dance of the intellect among words" then sub sentences for words—it is amongst these I move. The dance in question traces out a knot (better yet, a gnot) that holds together what might otherwise fly apart. I espouse only the sonnets, not any one line.
John Lowther was a member of the Atlanta Poets Group from 1997-2012, before going solo. The University of New Orleans Press published The Lattice Inside: An Atlanta Poets Group Anthology in 2012. John and Dana Lisa Young's book Held to the Letter is forthcoming from Lavender Ink. Other sonnets from 555 have appeared or are forthcoming in Otoliths, The Gambler, atlpoetics, Futures Trading, and Uut. John also works in film and photography. He's currently writing his dissertation in an attempt to reimagine psychoanalysis if the facticity of intersex and transgender lives had been taken as foundational from the outset.