new from above/ground press: Market Discipline, by Kevin Davies

Market Discipline
Kevin Davies
$5


This grim cart an ocean between us.
That’s what it feels like and that’s what it is.
This highfaluting gimcrack awaiting whistle of approval.
That’s what we talked about as the blimp plummeted.

This criminology a flawed paean, all.
That’s the verdict that emits City Hall.
This crimp in the wing of the suspect spaniel.
That’s what we’ve got saved instead of the throbbing dossier.

This the new puzzler from the pen of the abbot’s double cousin.
That’s just how it works in these misspelled parts.
This overproduction an all-too-padded shank of decimal innovation.
That’s what I’m trying to understand about what used to be the river.

This is all you’ve got and you’ve come all this way.
That’s the awesome deed itself in dungarees.
This pinion you speak of, Plato, can it measure levels of disorganization?
That’s what the contract is said to have said to have specified.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard the alto wail of what is lather.
That’s a project for another time and altered trapeze.
This cruciform range of options applies itself to plateau sage.
That’s I suppose what we get for trusting those who once lived on boats.

This is Mike, my old friend and new adjutant.
That’s my way of saying goodbye to a whole range of associations.
This sound familiar?
That’s the nightly cannon in Stanley Park reminding us to floss.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
March 2025
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Kevin Davies was active in the Vancouver poetry scene in the 1980s and has lived in New York City since 1992, working as a copyeditor and writing instructor. His books include FPO (2020), The Golden Age of Paraphernalia (2008), and Comp. (2000), all from Edge Books in Washington, DC.

Market Discipline is a section of Salacious Dossier, forthcoming from Talonbooks in 2028. Also forthcoming: Transfer Portal (Edge, 2025) and Three Yards and a Cloud of Ducks (Roof, 2027).

To order, send cheques (add $2 for postage; in US, add $3; outside North America, add $7) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com