H e n r i e t t e J e n n y S a v a l e t t e d e L a n g e —

translated by J a c k s o n W a t s o n

                               MES PLAISIRS

                                        (excerpt)




                                             …


                               (French text lost)


                                             …


J'ai dit, et la lecture et le charme des vers.


                                             …


                               (French text lost)


                                             …


L'esprit cède à l'erreur, ou le cœur est facile.
Au cri des passions la pensée est docile;
Et l’âme reste en butte à leurs perfides traits,
Si, de l’auguste foi, les sublimes attraits,
Ne la font, en l’ôtant a sa faiblesse extrême,
Dans l'amour de son Dieu trouver le bien suprême.


                                             …


                               (French text lost)


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                              MY PLEASURES

                                        (excerpt)












—so there, I’ve told you
about the reading & charm of verse
& I’ve given you tidbits of autobiography
so what more could you want? Kidding—
Muses, do me a favor, get me some booze,
so in your infinite intimacy
you can help me unfold all I know
in bits & wisps & morsels
help me tell in neverending
gentle measures
more excerpts of my pleasures—







        PLEASURE I

        a dictionary of obscenity
        and a thesaurus too




                                                                    PLEASURE II

                                                                    I love the soft iambics of
                                                                    I am a whore a whorish whore
                                                                    an old and whorish whore : my hour
                                                                    soon must cum


                                                                                                                                                 PLEASURE IV

                                                                                                                                                 the infinite lips
                                                                                                                                                 of an envelope


               PLEASURE VII

               revolution’s huge dilation
               of the body politic
               unbounded in giving
               birth : breathe, bitch, push!



                                                                             PLEASURE IX

                                                                             friendship's endless o-
                                                                             ral nasal o-
                                                                             ptical spiritual au-
                                                                             ral ritornellos



                                                                                                                                         PLEASURE XI

                                                                                                                                         every set of anti-
                                                                                                                                         empirical anti-
                                                                                                                                         imperial contra-
                                                                                                                                         factual genitals


                                                                          PLEASURE XII

                                                                          a massive frame
                                                                          for a tiny bird, a pict-
                                                                          orial oriole




                                                                                                    PLEASURE XIX

                                                                                                    art invoking taboo logics
                                                                                                    tattooed on my flesh




                   PLEASURE XXX

                   when your spirit succumbs to error’s sweets
                   & the heart is easy
                   & thought is docile to passion’s cry
                   & so the soul’s exposed to her own
                   nasty traits & big daddy reason
                   with his oldie faith
                   can’t seduce you, go ahead & take yourself
                   away from his floppy cosmic cock
                   & in the loving tongue of a godlet discover
                   the linguist’s supreme jouissance




                                         PLEASURE XXXIII

                                         modernism's discount rupture
                                         its obsolete cheapskate ink



                                                                                                                                                                   PLEASURE XXXIX

                                                                                                                                                                   sweetly to be
                                                                                                                                                                   your antonym








                                                                                                                                                                   PLEASURE LXXI

                                                                                                                                                                   angelic harpists
                                                                                                                                                                   fucking hardest


                                                                                          PLEASURE LXXIX

                                                                                          an operatic asshole farting
                                                                                          the magic flute of mozart



                                                       PLEASURE C

                                                       refining
                                                       all this filth



                                                                        PLEASURE CXXV

                                                                        a bundle of
                                                                        that gutterlight



                                                                                                        PLEASURE CXL

                                                                                                        living in the midst of a million
                                                                                                        holes in the form of men





PLEASURE CLXVII

god’s power is like a dildo
fake but oh
inside me it feels good










                                                                        PLEASURE CCXXX

                                                                        this phony theophany:

                                                                        Friendship is a godlet with two heads
                                                                        & I’m a tiny butterfly
                                                                        tasting the divine
                                                                        with labial palpitations, licking Intimacy
                                                                        like a papillon puppy while the cherubs
                                                                        kiss the godlet sloppily
                                                                        in chorus; like the bible breakable
                                                                        hosts of angels sing
                                                                        with scarlet sigil sibilants
                                                                        from mouths where we have eyes


                   PLEASURE CCLXVII

                   centuries of piss
                   from a public
                   urinal : ludic
                   piss sophisticates

                                                                                                                                                                PLEASURE CCCIX

                                                                                                                                                                to know your mother
                                                                                                                                                                by her laugh : cackle
                                                                                                                                                                tittle chortle giggle


                                               PLEASURE CCLVI

                                               catalogues of common things






                                                                                                                PLEASURE CCXCIII

                                                                                                                marmalade
                                                                                                                cloudbanks





                                               PLEASURE CCCVII

                                               a latticework
                                               of paddlemarks
                                               a bluish blush
                                               of patterned bruises

                                                                                                PLEASURE CCCLVII

                                                                                                scatological catalogues
                                                                                                wafting in my nostrils



                                         PLEASURE CCCXCI

                                         my prelapsarian
                                         prolapse : chthonic
                                         yonic design


                                                                             PLEASURE CD
                                                                             genital cartographers
                                                                             touching lovely monsters



                               PLEASURE CDLXXII

                               waves of time
                               sloshing in
                               all my bodies'
                               holes

                                                                                    PLEASURE DLXII

                                                                                    some friends in no particular
                                                                                    order—
sasha adele riley louise kathy ben sean patrick ky
                                                                                    sid sam jack michelle john brian bubbles bobby emilie & lee
                                                                                    sheida zephyr zero zola zia michael rachelle sophia & more &
                                                                                    more & more






               PLEASURE DLXXX

               frothsongs




                             PLEASURE DCXXVII

                             chastity's
                             shipwrack




                                                                PLEASURE DCLXII

                                                                lilith’s dick
                                                                & eve’s huge penis
                                                                dp’ing adam’s cunt



                                                                                                           PLEASURE DCCCIII

                                                                                                           apostrophe's
                                                                                                           catastrophe



                                                                                                                                      PLEASURE CMXIII

                                                                                                                                      faggotry’s
                                                                                                                                      rapturettes



                                                                      PLEASURE CMXCVII

                                                                      my flaccid penis
                                                                      laughing at limits
                                                                      infinite girldick







                                                                                                                   PLEASURE MCDLII

                                                                                                                   living in my pleasure's wreckage
                                                                                                                   as the wet body sobs the soul




                                                                PLEASURE MDCCXCII

                                                                salvaging
                                                                the praxis
                                                                of sex




                   PLEASURE MMCXII

                   tongues performing
                   acts of terror
                   on top of sodom's altar :
                   o flirty corpulent ornaments




                                                                             PLEASURE MMCCLX

                                                                             when all that exists dissolves into incense
                                                                             & so in the stinking
                                                                             our noses do the thinking



                                               PLEASURE MMDCXXXI

                                               history’s bitter bullshit
                                               steadily abolisht



                    PLEASURE MMMDCL

                    succulent
                    scum lust

                                                                                     PLEASURE MMMMCXIII

                                                                                     uncut—
                                                                                     cocks
                                                                                     clits
                                                                                     ideas
                                                                                     atoms
                                                                                     films
                                                                                     trees
                                                                                     games
                                                                                     laces
                                                                                     hopes
                                                                                     minds
                                                                                     lists
                                                                                     lives




                     PLEASURE MMMMDCCLXI

                     a cunty canto
                     of cante jondo
                     sounding out
                     folk's funk


                                                                                                                    PLEASURE MMMMM

                                                                                                                    eyes tattooed on asscheeks
                                                                                                                    a perfect sort of hindsight


                               PLEASURE MMMMMCCXI

                               my heart a wren
                               its vowels invent



                                                                                PLEASURE MMMMMDCCLXI

                                                                                amitié's
                                                                                proximities



                           PLEASURE MMMMMMMMMDCXXIII

                           god has a neon pink & plasticine
                           horsecock hanging down from her waist
                           & past her knees, his tits
                           have a million emerald nipples,
                           & her peacock tail’s
                           embroidered with orgies
                           & fans from his fat ass, which signifies
                           fertility, but this godlet
                           in her beauty
                           refuses to reproduce
                           unless they sprout a hydralike head :
                           they bud out from his buddies’
                           cumdump butts
                           to waste
                           each bucket of cum






                                                        PLEASURE MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMDCLXI

                                                        when these three don't worry me :
                                                        eternity & memory
                                                        & least of all identity








                                                                                          PLEASURE ∞

                                                                                          being here
                                                                                          with you





                                                                                                                                              —Jenny S. De Lange









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