Path (Alpha Centauri)
ROB WALLACE
35°13'04.3"N 111°38'55.7"W
Days of wobble and flux
How many autumns are left?
From the herbarium of empire
I select oats, dates, coffee
Thirsty for spring
The image of the Mountain in my mind
The image of the Mountain in my mind is iconic
and reinforces the actual site/sight of the Mountain
It’s out there
An almost perfect set of triangles
arranged next to one another as a triptych
In my mind, the image is etched like
psychedelic colors seen
against pressed-in closed eyes
Here
I am
Again
Strata over strata
Gambel Oak, ponderosa,
lichen on basalt rock (or some such former magma fluff)
The path through the woods
Scrubgrass, mud in autumn, mud in early spring.
Then, it was Alpha Centauri
mixed with birds, my footsteps, my dog’s collar clacking
All times are this time
If you get a chance to come back
What happens?
This is the path through the woods
Now, all I see is evidence of dogs
Birds chirping
Unnatural blue smashed into
the ground
--jay feathers scattered about
The image of the Mountain
Luminescent after snow
Glows in my mind
Writer, musician, and teacher ROB WALLACE holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His recordings can be found on the pfMentum, Ambiances Magnétiques, and Nonessential record labels. He is the author of Improvisation and the Making of American Literary Modernism (Bloomsbury) and co-editor (with Ajay Heble) of People Get Ready: The Future of Jazz is Now! (Duke). He is an Associate Teaching Professor at the Honors College of Northern Arizona University, where he teaches courses on poetry, improvisation, popular and “world” musics, global studies, comic books, and intermedia arts, as well as leading an experimental/improvised music ensemble. He is a part of many ensemble projects including Summit Dub Squad, F-Town Sound, Wall of Skulls, Reference Sine, and the NAU Faculty Jazz Combo, and is the co-curator of the Interference Series. Wallace has collaborated with a wide variety of musicians from around the globe.
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This is a path through the woods that I frequently walked my dog on as a teenager. I used to live in this neighborhood, and there were fewer houses and more trees when I was a kid. I also used listen to music on my walkman as I took the dog down the trail. The music blended with "natural" sounds and has remained in my memory for years. "Alpha Centauri" was a Tangerine Dream album that blew my mind back then, and still does.