THE REMIX:

A WORLD (SO LONG) UNSEEN

Letter: What is handed, out of hand, of paper.
Funeral: Where she was, last, when she went.
Gaggle: To restrain ourselves, in this pack. Hunters.
Gathered: Wound-round. Entangled.
Funeral: Where when people die.
Long: A measure of time.
Long: Pierrot’s dance.
Long: All of us exiting.
Days: A measure of time.
Tangled: How it was kissing your face this last time.
Now: A measure of time.
Hurtling: The vast amounts of space between us.
Pierrot: Like a dream.
Nights: Dark, dying. As in, this is the night.
Around: With our arms. Our holding each other.
Of: indeterminate
Of: indeterminate
Air: This is how we breathe.
Now: A measure of time.
Of: indeterminate
Nights: The stretch before us after.
Nights: The line going.
Howling: This is a sound that is made. This is a sound we make.
Air: Even when we die, the last of this.
Along: You with me, or me with you.
Now: A measure of time.
Consumed: In a dream, if this is a dream.
Pierrot: That is who this pretends to be about.
Spent: To be deflated. Tired. Worn.
Training: As in a proving ground. How much can we take?
The: To introduce.
Said: What Pierrot spoke when he was unmuted.
Hum: This same sound.
Those: Or them, respectively.
Towns: The places where we pretend to exist.
Found: Opening us up. How funeral’s do.
Dead: Those bright read shoes. Or unbeing.
On: This is a falsehood. Nothing is ever on.
Forests: The places we go when we are done pretending.
Gestures: Wailing. Flailing our arms. Open hands. Palms.
Our: As in collective. If I was you and you were me.
Pitch: Darkness or selling. Or hot tar.
Hurried: How we feel when they go, when we go.
Bears: In our dreams.
Bears: Holding our hands.
Bears: Breathing next to us.
Long: A measure of time.
Spent: The amount of time used.
Wandering: From house to house. Dreams. Searching cupboards.
And: Conjunction.
Of: indeterminate
Pierrot: Who this is about.
And: Conjunction.
Whipped: Pierrot feels this way towards me.
Dashed: I towards him.
Yearned: Or yearning. This is a variety of drive.
And: Conjunction.
Pierrots: Many of us.
Pierrots: More of us, made from us.
Dust: What collects in our eyes when.
And: Conjunction.
Remains: This is a falsehood. There are no remains.
Forests: Where we end up when we stop pretending.
Moaning: A noise that stands in for our grudging words.
The: To introduce.
The: To introduce.
Only: How we are limited.
Pierrot: Isn’t this who we were, or it wasn’t.
And: Conjunction.
Laces: Tightened. Or tightening. Or the crisscross of veins.
Slept: Or sleeping.
Saw: Or we have seen. As in all this we have pretended to see.
Staggered: Spaced.
Staggered: Reeling.
The: To introduce.
Beneath: How we go when we go.
And: Conjunction.
City: A collection of towns. Our beds are in there.
Of: indeterminate
Of: indeterminate
You: I dream of this when I dream.
Of: indeterminate
Overstuffed: Too much, or too little, or of being overwhelmed.
Passed: How we try to pretend that death does not exist.
Of: indeterminate
Within: This is a falsehood. There is nothing within us.
Once: Before I knew of these alligators.
Once: Before I dreamed of us holding hands.
Streets: Between our cities. To connect our dreaming.
And: Conjunction.
Houses: Where we go when we go home.
Now: A measure of time.
Along: How I am pulled.
Until: Just now. Or a measure of time.
That: Or yes.
Of: indeterminate
Of: indeterminate
Hair: What I remember.
Of: indeterminate
Beard: What I want to remember.
And: Conjunction.
Pierrot’s: Or my own. There is no guide here.
Fell: Or falling.
As: indeterminate
The: To introduce.
Man: Or men. Sometimes there are too many of us to classify.
Laughed: How we. Or wept. In dreams they are the same.

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Remixer’s process: I took every third word of each sentence, pulled them out, cut everything else, and worked to redefine the piece based around only those pinpoints of language.

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J. A. Tyler is the author of ten books including the recently released INCONCEIVABLE WILSON (Scrambler Books, 2009) and the forthcoming A MAN OF GLASS & ALL THE WAYS WE HAVE FAILED (Fugue State Press, 2011). He is also founding editor of Mud Luscious Press. For more, visit: www.mudlusciouspress.com.