'cognitive-behavioral therapy' tao lin's 2nd poetry bookfirst 7 pages below

2008-04-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

i will learn how to love a person and then i will teach you and then we will know

seen from a great enough distance i cannot be seen
i feel this as an extremely distinct sensation
of feeling like shit; the effect of small children
is that they use declarative sentences and then look at your face
with an expression that says, ‘you will never do enough
for the people you love’; i can feel the universe expanding
and it feels like no one is trying hard enough
the effect of this is an extremely shitty sensation
of being the only person alive; i have been alone for a very long time
it will take an extreme person to make me feel less alone
the effect of being alone for a very long time
is that i have been thinking very hard and learning
about mortality, loneliness, people, society, and love; i am afraid
that i am not learning fast enough; i can feel the universe expanding
and it feels like no one has ever tried hard enough; when i cried in your room
it was the effect of an extremely distinct sensation that ‘i am the only person
alive,’ ‘i have not learned enough,’ and ‘i can feel the universe expanding
and making things be further apart
and it feels like a declarative sentence
whose message is that we must try harder’

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2008-04-08T15:47:00.001-07:00

today is tuesday; email me on saturday

the secret of life is decisiveness

and to describe something

i see the distance and move immediately into it

now i am really alone

from here i know these things: that a hamster is a lonely fist

that my poems exist to dispel irrational angers, that i want to hold your face

with my face

like a hand

the secret of life is that i miss you, and this describes life

tonight my heart feels shiny and calm as a soft wet star

i describe it from a distance, then move quickly away

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2008-04-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

eleven-page poem, page one

i looked away from the computer with a slight feeling
of out-of-control anger; i saw you wearing a coffee-colored star-suit
there was a barely perceptible feeling on my face
that i was being crushed by the shit of the world
then i saw beyond the window to the tree, the house, and the street
the house and the street made mysterious binary noises
that negatively affected the tree’s immense happiness
i observed this neutrally, without falling out of my chair

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2008-04-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

eleven-page poem, page two

energy drinks help me achieve worldviews that allow me to forgive you
masturbation is underrepresented
in my poetry, it’s a scientific fact
that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors
and there is a tingly sensation on the surface of my face
that feels like the binary nature of the universe
i feel severely confused and unable to function, i’ll be right back
something behind my forehead is trying to crush my ‘good feelings toward you’

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2008-04-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

eleven-page poem, page three

my favorite emotions include ‘brief calmness
in good weather’ and ‘i am the only person alive’
without constant reassurance i feel terribly lonely and insane
i have moved beyond meaninglessness, far beyond meaninglessness
to something positive, life-affirming, and potentially best-selling
i have channeled most of my anger into creating and sustaining an ‘angry face’
i have picked up a medium-size glass of coffee
and used it in the conventional way
because i am conventional in all situations, i’ll be right back

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2008-04-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

eleven-page poem, page four

the correct arrangement of words will make these bad feelings go away tonight
the incorrect arrangement of words will also make these bad feelings go away
tonight, because of the placebo effect, which always works
do we really live in an insane world of terrible loneliness?
i feel intense, uncontrollable eyebrows on my face
and something behind my forehead is making squishy noises
i should not allow an energy drink to affect my worldview
i enjoy a quiet night masturbating in front of the computer
with or without high speed internet
i’ll be right back

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2008-04-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

eleven-page poem, page five

my favorite situations include ‘people doing what they say’
‘people thinking factually,’ and ‘people crying alone in bed’
i don’t know how to fix this mini-disc player
without a meaningful philosophy of life
i feel severely unable to move as fast as they do in martial arts movies
strong feelings of achievement later become barely perceptible
feelings of immense helplessness; i moved my body outside your house
past seven other houses
to meet you at the bus stop

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2008-04-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

good job

there are 90-something more pages in the real book

tao lin's other books are

eeeee eee eeee (melville house, 2007)

bed (melville house, 2007)

you are a little bit happier than i am (action books, 2006)

go to wikipedia or goodreads for more information

2000-04-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

"COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY IS A MESMERIZING WONDER. DEVASTATING AND HILARIOUS [...] WITH HIS TALENT, WORDINESS AND EMO TENDENCIES, LIN RESEMBLES A LITERARY CONOR OBERST CIRCA 1999 -- PRODIGAL, UNPREDICTABLE AND A LITTLE ANNOYING, BUT ALWAYS ON THE VERGE OF ARTICULATING SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN WAITING TO HEAR, IN A VOICE THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE. " - PASTE

"TAO LIN DOES STRANGE THINGS." - COLDFRONT MAGAZINE

"I DON'T THINK ANY POET HAS EVER WRITTEN SO POIGNANTLY AND UN-SELF CONSCIOUSLY ABOUT THE EMOTIONAL UTILITY OF HIS BLOG [...] WEIRD AND SAD..." - CONSTANT CRITIC

"COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY IS WORTH SEVERAL READINGS BY ANYONE CURRENTLY LIVING IN NEW YORK--ESPECIALLY YOUNG VEGANS WHO SHOP AT WHOLE FOODS AND USE GMAIL." - THE BROOKLYN RAIL

"[IT MENTIONS THE BOOK EXISTS, I DON'T HAVE THE MAGAZINE BY ME RIGHT NOW, IT JUST SAYS IT EXISTS AND HAS THE BOOK COVER]" - FLAUNT

"...THE INTERNET, OBSESSION, VEGAN FOOD..." - BLAKE BUTLER

"THE CHAPTERS BEING IN SOME FUCKED UP MANNER, THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE POEM, CALLING A LONG POEM "GIANT POEM." DRAWING ALL THOSE PICTURES. WHY WOULD SOMEONE DO THAT? WHY WOULD SOMEONE MAKE SURE THEIR ENTIRE POETRY BOOK EXCLUDED ALL GUTTURAL SOUNDS, OR MAYBE THE WHOLE GERMANIC INFLUENCE UPON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE." - NOAH CICERO

"YOU CAN RIP NEARLY ANY SINGLE PAGE OUT OF THE BOOK [...] SCHOLARS AND WRITERS FIGHT..." - GENE MORGAN

1996-05-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EVERY PAGE EDITED 'HALF-ASSEDLY' INTO HAIKUS

PROMOTIONAL VIDEO

BRITNEY SPEARS STICKERS

1995-05-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

1.
i will learn how to love a person and then i will teach you and then we will know
today is tuesday; email me on saturday
eleven page poem, page one
eleven page poem, page two
eleven page poem, page three
eleven page poem, page four
eleven page poem, page five
eleven page poem, page six

2.
eleven page poem, page seven
eleven page poem, page eight
eleven page poem, page nine
eleven page poem, page ten
eleven page poem, page eleven
that was bad; i shouldn’t have done that
are you okay?
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-
-
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-
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the power of ethical reasoning
a stoic philosophy based on the scientific fact that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors
room night
i know at all times that in four hours i will feel completely different

3.
hamsters are heads with little characteristics on the head, part one
hamsters are heads with little characteristics on the head, part two
hamsters are heads with little characteristics on the head, part three
hamsters are heads with little characteristics on the head, part four
-
-
-
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when i leave this place
ugly fish poem, part one
ugly fish poem, part two
giant poem, one of twenty-four
two of twenty-four
three of twenty-four
four of twenty-four
five of twenty-four
six of twenty-four

4.
seven of twenty-four
eight of twenty-four
nine of twenty-four
ten of twenty-four
eleven of twenty-four
twelve of twenty-four
thirteen of twenty-four
fourteen of twenty-four
fifteen of twenty-four
sixteen of twenty-four
seventeen of twenty-four
eighteen of twenty-four
nineteen of twenty-four
twenty of twenty-four
twenty-one of twenty-four
twenty-two of twenty-four
twenty-three of twenty-four
twenty-four of twenty-four, completion

1993-05-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

i feel like i have
been thinking very hard and
i am not learning

the secret of life
is decisiveness now i
am really alone

i looked away from
the computer with a slight
feeling of falling

in my poetry
it’s a scientific fact
that something is good

brief calmness in good
weather and i am alive
i feel positive

i feel intense face
i enjoy a quiet night
high speed internet

my favorite people
don’t know how to feel
i meet you at the bus stop

we will fall asleep
faster at night? i never
am something shiny

deadly spikes swinging
out-of-control lollipop
perfume crotch penis

the shithead with a
flat panel monitor and
too much shit on bed

today i want you
i hope this is a novel
according to me

sometimes i feel a
temporary solution
the computer screen

i know my face feels
like the placebo effect
i have to go back

catatonic state
a calm facial expression
i should be insane

read my text message
about the damage i’ve done
endless shit can’t move

i just had a dream
where i came to nyc
i miss you at night

the hamster was small
organic green tea extract
flaxseed lemon soap

college graduate
days felt terrible then good
head on a pillow

the hamster saw cheese
the cheese or meat would exist
unexcitedly

read literary
fiction including jean rhys
lydia davis

HIV wasn’t
the cause of AIDS probably
hamsters got angry

$8,000
stockholders have money now
must increase profits

a homeless hamster
said, ‘are you lying to me?’
becoming smaller

it was well nourished
ate mostly only organic foods
twelve hours of sleep

stupid things were done
human beings abandoned
cash money all-stars

emails and poems
i won the pultizer prize
neutral expression

we have problems: sad
the absence of distances
quiet monotone

felt sad this morning
no physical connection
thoughts cause emotions

cruelty-free soap
i did not leave the shower
there’s no good or bad

i moved my body
to the kitchen because it
was empty and alone

beautiful music
i tightly held my bagel
i emailed someone

find out what to eat
someone text messaging me
take a long shower

i will never meet
an interesting person
what happens to me

i am going to
go away for two hours
i will console me

a giant hamster
in bed worrying about
its many problems

small dab of shampoo
will not be enough shampoo
sunlight through window

at the computer
the hamster drinks the coffee
its paw is sincere

four a.m. hamster
on the side of a mountain
easily judge things

a form of online
hamster known to comment on
a giant wheelchair

a slug in a tree
50 ants jumped on the slug
insane destruction

in chinatown bruce
lee doing front rolls on a
TV screen to fight

severe depression
caused by negative thinking
the hamster read books

my poems will hit
my face at the speed of light
i want a flower

an ugly fish at
cocoa beach a tactful friend
and compassionate

a mutant sturgeon
located on the ocean
floor made screams of despair

i have my small mind
i have seen a manatee
i have seen a whale

cape canaveral
elderly flounder moths gnats
and other insects

the lights and the grass
i’m under a star i don’t
know i am thankful

small children approached
i fell off my bike then i
crossed east houston street

massive confusion
maybe i am the problem
and you are OK

no one cries for him
an enormous animal
an urge to confide

ruining our lives
using gold-inlaid tweezers
i observe myself

at taco bell your
mother is crying tears this
is literary

the sun’s light reveals
the discovery channel
i emailed myself

in june someone should
admit nothing is worth more
than anything else

i want to be a
flying toad intelligent
winged toad size of ant

refrigerator
consoled me and made dinner
enormous taco

ten animals on
the discovery channel
no effect on me

either give or
headbutt the computer screen
late at night obese

meat in meat piles
obese hamster attacked me
i punched his son’s life

my forehead against
your eyebrow frustrated and
severely repressed

a sarcastic man
answering emails was calm
taco bell patrons

ownership of my
high-powered binoculars
something wrong with me

accidentally
headbutted someone’s wheatgrass
averted his eyes

immense happiness
your mother’s harmonious
joy is still working

gratification
annual income from readers
tell me how you feel

hamster pushed its head
through an unreliable
copy-editor

person pushes off
a mossy rock and glides toward
manatee’s body

behind my forehead
exists the potential for
walking down the steps

my eye surgery
unemotional shit fuck
ass motherfucker

a powerful fish
richard yates in world war II
is behind my face

i began to cry
because it’s something to do
alone in my room

1991-05-06T02:19:00.000-07:00

1990-05-08T09:00:00.000-07:00