Excerpt from Triptych by Rochelle Owens Susan and Rochelle in Philadelphia, 2005 Author Rochelle Owens has received attention for her two-part poem, "Chomsky Grilling Linguica." The entire text is available online: Chomsky Grilling Linguica, Part I. Chomsky Grilling Linguica, Part II. Chomsky Grilling Linguica, Part III. Owens also recently participated in a reunion of the La Mama Theatre Company, where her controversial play, Futz, was first performed. An interesting note, the La Mama Theatre Company was also where the play, Hair, debuted. Futz was also performed at the Edinburgh Festival, where it created quite a stir in 1967: Futz, La Mama Theatre Company, 1967. Futz was often spoken about in the same conversations as Hair, although Futz was infinitely more complex, with its ethical, philosophical, and existential themes. In a tangentially related item, Barry Cowsill, a member of the group, The Cowsills, who recorded the title song to Hair, was killed in New Orleans in the flooding following Hurricane Katrina. His body was found on a wharf four months after he was declared missing. (see "This Cowsills Song Has a Sad Ending," Newsday). Here We Are Like A Leaf Driven   Past two-by-fours scratches word UTOPIA splintered wood transparent BLUE larvae how minute bits of damage punctuate until you look behind dust acres wet heaps parchment there’s more parchment how minute bits alternate punctuate ash oil SCOURGE fingers spreading hour after hour left-hand writing Dirt walks in bloodstream spots of RED turn into doodles smell wet heaps BLUE wool cool GRAY-GREEN stone Lucy female surgeon positions the TRIPTYCH encapsulating her life darker background attention drawn to column of archway black silk hood pearls & lace WHITE as milk drawn to The Book of Psalms DESOLATION dust                                   Cycles core to core CLOCK TICKS malt wine oats & straw coal lead plumber work mills & dams DAYS collecting how minute cracks in porcelain light etches nucleus riddles shell WHITE fear etches scorn curved a club-footed newborn detaches segments of waterjugs BLUE face to face self spawning transparent BLUE larvae     Highly Recommended Books Rochelle Owens: Triptych The Language(s) of Rochelle Owens  (from the Afterword) Rochelle Owens' new work, Triptych, represents a departure from Rochelle Owens' work, at least upon first glance. Triptych is deeply spiritual, filled with allusions to the meaning-making processes that inform the sacred and sacred texts. One could argue, however, that Owens has always written about the sacred, and her earlier work, while seeming to be profane, has been, in reality, a deep plunge into the very heart of the sacred. Her work has affirmed the existence of the sacred. Several essays in "Considerations of Rochelle Owens," curated by Karl Young, and hosted at Light & Dust Anthology of Poets, explore these themes. To read the entire piece, click here:  "Afterword" to Triptych, by Rochelle Owens.