Time for Another Danse Russe?

Hey, whatchamacallit,
don't you see

it's about time

this thingamajig was
moving in on you better

watch out now watch it,
what you call it calls

the tune.

(A rewrite of a poem that first appeared in Sentences (1976) under the title "William Carlos Williams".)

Chasing the Elusive Muse

Before you promise

To keep your word
To catch her,

You have to let her go.

Jack Sprat Robinson, Sleight-of-Hand Man

See?

He's got wife with can
Of sardines up un-

Canny ass,
Eats her whole

Before you can
Say Jack,

Where'd she go?

The Lure

wind-buffeted

solitary white

chapel's calling


seas bluff.

Disillusionment

whatever it was
he was dreaming
it was not

what it was
meant to be.

On the Lunatic Fringe

No inner sanctum
At the moonlit inn.

Legacy

light inherits
dark remains.

(from The Intricate Evasions of As)

Definitely Not Lemmings #12

My thanks to Katie Murray aka don't be emily for becoming DNL #12; here's the link to her Promethean-inspired blog.

On the Way to Parnassus

This much remains certain,
Above all: We shall rise

To unknown mythical heights;
But how low

Must we go to know?

Disclosure

O pen the wound to close the heart to heal.

The Dismantling

We shall not cease from exploration,
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

--T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding


Before

Our most enlightening eviction,
We thought

We had every right
To squat here

Undutifully derelict,
Oblivious to light.

.


This gift, this blinding
Edifice of beauty

We took for granted, we lost sight,
Though our instructions were simple—

Before you lose it forever,
Take it down

In glorious black and white.

Sudden Departure

The knell

That forever brings us back from far-
Fetched unseen reverie

Never keeps us here.

Ten Not-So-Easy Pieces and An Epilogue

After two not-so-easy years of web designing trials and tribulations that I'm sure she would rather forget about, Elizabeth Boleman-Herring's comprehensive, completely revamped website for the intelligent traveler thinking of visiting Greece is up and running. Here's the link to my contribution that will virtually take you straight to The Land of Milk and Honey before you actually decide to visit it in person. See you soon!

Calm before the Storm

leaves moving on

table under the
Judas tree over
our heads still

waiting for what
it was that
brought us here

we hear what
must be the
last cicada calling

loud and clear.

Erosion of Memory

On the bluff slowly

Being eaten away, rows
Of tenacious red and white

Laurels holding fast against
A calling, rippling blue

Sea.

--Vromoneri, Greece, August 6, 2009

Maximum Serenity Facility

Location: Vromoneri (Stinky Water), Messinias, overlooking the Ionian Sea--7 km south of Marathopolis-- this is where the two inmates were incarcerated for two days and forced every morning to descend some 75 steep, harrowing steps to a pebble beach and swim in the incredibly clear waters until exhausted, then made to climb back up in the early afternoon for a meager lunch consisting of a Greek village salad, wine, and fresh smelt caught by the warden a few hours earlier. Afterwards, a siesta, two hours of reading and/or writing and back down the steps again for another swim. In the evening, reading and/or writing, a light supper, and interrogation carried out by the warden under the light of an incredibly large August moon--pure torture, I tell you; honestly, I don't know how they survived the ordeal. Next time, the warden should definitely consider prolonging the period of confinement.

AWOL

From 1800 hrs Wednesday, August 5th to 1800 Friday, August 7th unless caught and brought back earlier.

Antediluvian Poem

How utterly

Profound, then lost
In the deluge

Left behind long before
It was time.

In the Deep Blue Sea

You write:
the ink grew less,
the sea increases.
--George Seferis

If to fathom is to see,
To come to understanding after

Taking your breath in and holding it
While diving deep, what

Did coming up for air mean?