In April I wrote a series of Indeterminacy poems inspired by John Cage and my studies of Black Mountain College.

The following are the ten poems I wrote:

1.

Facts

are not important to   John Rice   but

Rather   how you                           hold them.

Caress them   in the   quiet house   until

leaving

is no longer an option.

Stop

aim   in the direction in front of you   an

arrow.             To create as an act of worship

there are gods before you.

shooter                                    bow                             target

[centering]

without the other   none can   fully exist.

The deer stay alive.

Two months

or less to decide

how my   Education   has

experienced me.

Dewy said                   Conclusions are not    endings

but                   pauses.

Still                 must “ready” come   before

forward?

Aim forward, change.

Aim forward

change.                            Relax.

Consider it all

an experiment.

2.

In the               hospital

systems                                  fail

in phases.

95.

He keeps time

still

wearing a       wristwatch.

3.

The country of Nepal now requires hikers

to bring          18 pounds of             trash

off                   Mount                         Everest

The frozen                 artifacts          include:

but are not limited to

air canisters

food scraps

hats

gloves

Human bodies

the conquering of

The                 Tallest                         mountain

in the world

is complete.

There is a garbage

dump              at the top of               the world.

4.

They say, “Don’t meet your heroes.”

Bob Creely’s   biographer

was disappointed                  wrote

a scathing                   review.

Perhaps          he could not see it

because he was not

looking close              enough.

5.

Where does boredom reside?

The internet creates a

closeness

to         those               who

match our needs       but

intimate distance.

How many kisses       are sipped

through laptop screens

ignored by   the next

scroll?

Which is more                       important

the content                or form?

Every morning          it is      someone’s job

to

turn    the      world

on.

6.

If something is                       boring

do not look

longer

look closer

multiplicities you can not

imagine

reveal themselves.

7.

One afternoon           two music students

were rehearsing John Cage’s “Living Room Music”

“Let’s add a                horn,”                         one student

said. “It          sounds            better                  that           way.”

The second student,             a purist of sorts,        was

concerned,    “It sounds better because it’s pitched.”

“Listen,”                                  the second student said.

“There is        music              always            around us.”

From the                    hallway the bickering

murmured                 melodies.

8.

The other       day

a young girl                went to the

hospital          with an           awful

rash.

Her skin was              flush red.

The doctors    couldn’t                     figure out
what was        wrong.

They later discovered           an allergy       to

Red Dye 40    cannot be treated     with

pink Benadryl.

You                 cannot                        fix        the

problem         with what makes you

sick.

9.

There are       thirty people              in the

Black Mountain College course

at UMaine

Poets

Dancers

Philosophers

Teachers

and those who’ve yet to

shed    their    cocoons,

if          at         all.

The people they talk about in class

are      now     foundations.

“Careful,”       the professor says,

“If one of        you      becomes                     famous

we      will be             footnotes in your

history.”

10.

In the early days of Black Mountain College          they

used found materials           because in the Great

Depression                 creative expression               was

sparse             and                 expensive.

At one point   some artists made    machines        intended

to         break.

There is          beauty in        malfunction.

Today, they make      cell      phones

Among other              things

to break.

That way nothing is              permanent.

You     can      always            buy     a         new

tomorrow.