Cliché

Broad daylight. Strange
coming

to terms with it, as if
it were something

out of the ordinary,
out of the blue

nothingness.

(from The Intricate Evasions of As)

Not So Recently Linked

A belated thank you to J.E. Jacobson for providing a link to my blog on his A Poetic Matter. It's clear he chose the title carefully, for poetry clearly matters to him and his posts reflect it.

Reverie

remember

whenever


jasmine

flowers


absent

mind


makes

sense

(First published in NOON: journal of the short poem, #2)

Irredeemable

whores' clap-
trap

the poets prick

.

and money talks
a fluency

of the unspeakable
changing hands

(From The Intricate Evasions of As)

Two Review 2009

Just received my contributor's copies of Two Review 2009--an excellent issue which reflects the editors' mission statement: "All subject matter is considered as long as the attention to craft is high and the language is grammatically strong, syntactically unique, and illuminates in some way the human experience. Writing about the modern world, its inhabitants, and the events that shape them, from the personal day-to-day experiences of work and family life to worldwide events that effect us all, is preferred." You can see a list of the contributors and their domiciles here.

Not So Pedestrian Gadfly under Guise of Country Bumpkin

Now

Look here
You-all

Certified highfalutin'
City-bred dandies,

It's sho 'nuf

High nigh
Impossible, so

Why in tarnation youse tryin'
To outrun a horse-

Fly.

(First published in First Intensity #21, Fall 2006)

War of Attrition

Looking back
they saw

what wore them
down was not

their in-
constancy,

their constant
frictions,

but how to love,
honor and obey

a life made up
of fictions.

(First published in Kater Murr's Press, 2005)

Wrath

Unknowingly

Crushed, almost
Suffocated

By my wife's pillow,
The badly

Bruised innocent
Centipede surfaces

And retaliates

And stings her fore-
Head good. She

Springs from deep sleep, strikes back
Blindly this time sees

She finishes the job off
Good.

(First published in Poetry Salzburg Review #14, Autumn 2008)

The Weight

Forgive me

Love, for taking
You for granted,

For thinking

You were simply
A given: Above all,

Once and for all,
Thank you

For leaving me
Your presence

In all ways
Unjustly forgiving.

(First published in Poetry Salzburg Review #9, Spring 2006)

Adolescent

easily

taking a-
part

the resilient

soft
red
rubber
ball

to where

he finds
its hard

perplexing
core.


(First published in Poetry Salzburg Review #2, Winter 2001/2002)

Reprisals

"You'll find that many of your compatriots have already bought property
in the Mani; in some villages, the Germans outnumber the Greeks 3 to 1."
--1995 real estate brochure

1. 1941

Occupying forces
Emaciated forms
Yellowed sheets
Worthless paper.

2.

Back to the wall
Their faces become
Muzzled abstractions of anthems
Circumventing circular
Definitions

Of executions.

3.

Circle of martyrs'
Eyelids undying
Blank distraction
Allocating slots for headstones
Grounds a lime foundation.

4.

Quarry of white

Washed marble
Statues

Of limitation.

5. vein of ignorance

Where does time run to
When it runs out?

6.

The Germans picked up
The first men they came across
And when they had gathered
Enough to fill the ratio,
Shot them.

The ratio was thirty Greeks
For every German soldier killed
By the Underground.

7. Initial Skirmish, The Deep Mani, 1961

Barren

Black-scarved hags
Captured

By Leicas.

8. 2001

(overheard in passing)

". . .you do exaggerate, my dear. One mustn't forget
The Germans have always respected the traditional

Architecture of our country."

Site

the
white

moss-
covered
wall

spotted

with
red

poppies
and

what
we
gather
are

bullet
holes.


(First published in the anthology How The Net Is Gripped: a selection of contemporary American poetry, edited by Rupert Loydell and David Miller, Stride, UK, 1992.)

"Definitely Not Lemmings" Number Eight

My thanks to poet Allen Braden for joining Definitely Not Lemmings; you can find out more about Allen here, and also read one of his many very fine poems.

Mythos

As long as you wish
I continue,

You have to go back.

(First published in Poetry Salzburg Review #2, Winter 2001/2002)

Lustily

from the dingy
balcony

the housewife's
crisp

white under
pants

and sheets
applaud

accordingly.

(from The Intricate Evasions of As)

Alter Ego

Simplicity

.

Do you mean
What you say?

.

Of the utmost
Complicity.

(from The Intricate Evasions of As)