tarek chemaly
three books
2009
\_Front page
\_Strata
read
\_getting the news
  from poems
\_Archewallogy
\_Jnune 7 – 2009
\_earlier writings
(2002/2003)
(| EN | FR |)
o-----////()/---[getting the news from poems]------(| Tarek Chemaly · 2009 |)------¬ contents
Exodus 2003

Poems by the kilos

Fresh poems, get them while they are still hot,
Poems sold by the kilos in street stands, believe it or not,
Organically grown and fertilizer free from my private lot,
Three lines ending with commas, and a fourth with a dot.

You might as well get a whole carton of them,
I can write them faster than you read them,
But make no mistake, this is not an assembly line in a factory,
It is more like Andy Warhol, his gang, and their factory.

Read them as if sipping fine wine,
Remember, this is not vulgar jug wine,
The Tarek nouveau est arrivé,
And you are getting the best of the cuvée.

Forget those canned statements you buy at the convenience store,
With our strophes, you will get more than you bargained for,
Stories that flow sweetly, make a few twists, and always rhyme,
Nothing to do with the works of our competitors not worth a dime.

Today we have a whole batch of them on discount,
For the price of one, you get double the amount,
Just pick any topic from those on the left you see:
Oh, good choice, you took the ones about the sea.

It is getting late, we are now packing for the day,
Wait for us tomorrow, new ones will be on display,
I am sure you will find something to suit your mood,
Do drop by if you happen to be in the neighborhood.
41

Tarek Chemaly, “Poems by the kilos”, getting the news from poems (2009), p. 41.

Tarek Chemaly’s three books of 2009, published on 111101 with the author’s permission. getting the news from poems: layout Mike Awad. Archewallogy: design Farah Samman, cover Ashekman. Jnune 7 – 2009: with Rami El Khoury, Upstairs Publishing; photographs as credited on each page.