What’s on my mind this bright sunny morning
Well, I’ll tell you.
I’m thinking of Moirés, an interference pattern
created when two grids are overlaid at an angle
or when they have slightly different mesh sizes.
I’m thinking of two headed marine worms, slime
molds and Pavlov inserting a window into a dog’s stomach
to observe its digestion, for which he won the Nobel
Prize in 1904.
I’m thinking about Moosbrugger, the psychopathic killer in
The Man Without Qualities. I’m thinking about Schoenberg’s
renunciation of melody,
Wittgenstein’s beetle, Gertrude Stein’s perpetual poodle
basket, the gargoyles of the Chrysler Building and
the swan that carries the Grail Knight to heaven
in LOHENGRIN.
I’m thinking I’m glad there are Crayola Crayon
colors called Inchworm, Neon Carrot and Macaroni & Cheese—
and how sad I am at how even stupider
America has become since I went walkabout.
Oh, wenn ich schrien könnte!
Un carnaval desesperada de imbéciles.
Mi go pas.
—
© Kris Saknussemm
Kris Saknussemm is a cult novelist and multimedia artist. Born and educated in America, he has lived most of his life abroad, primarily in Australia and the Pacific Islands. He has published ten books that have been translated into 22 languages.
His science fiction themed novel Zanesville, published by Villard Books, an imprint of Random House in 2005, was hailed by critics as a revolutionary work of surreal black comedy. It has attracted the devotion of outsider artists like the Legendary Stardust Cowboy and was the inspiration for Michael Jackson to want to have a giant robot of himself constructed to roam the Las Vegas desert.
Another key novel, an erotic supernatural thriller Private Midnight is set in a noir crime world of jazz, junkies and shadows from out of time.
