Thursday, June 28, 2012

Dedicated to the One I Love


Narciss, it’s beyond 
Your comprehension— 

No poem is more beautiful 
Than the one being 

Read by the light 
Of your eyes. 




Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Greek-American Gambler Wins Precious Bride Hands Down


Dad may have returned flat 
Broke to Greece in 1936 
But he was still 
An ace at bluffing: 

Whenever he finished 
Dancing at village fairs, 
He’d dig into his pockets 
And throw a handful 

Of pennies into the air. 
Everybody thought 
He was flush with cash, 
Mom’s poor parents, too. 


Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Birdbrain


Thank God, I’m a teetotaler— 
All this twitter’s enough 

To drive one to think. 




Sunday, June 24, 2012

Not for the Birds


Magpie, be silent and listen— 
How many times 

Have you not heard this one? 


Friday, June 22, 2012

Doubt before Dawn


Whether it’s rime or thistledown 
Along this roadway, we’ll know 

As soon as the sun shows us 
Its face and the fog lifts— 

Let us rise to the occasion 
And be on our way. 


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Assayer


Appraising his folly 
His universe to see, 
He wonders why 

His sight’s been affected— 
Two black holes his eyes, 
Don’t you see? 


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Taken to the Cleaners


Incredulous, love— 
I can’t believe how

You took the shirt off 
My back or why 

I’m still waiting for you
To give it back, incredibly

Laundered, immaculate, white. 

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Commodity's Future's Latest Release, "Crawl, Multiply and Prosper"


Okay, all you earthy worms, let’s hit it— 
With a one and a two and a three 

Cornucopia! 
In every nook and cranny 
Of our fertile little acre— 

No need to blow your horn to see— 
Bushels of rotten apples falling, 
The likes of you and me. 


Friday, June 15, 2012

Cult Following


I can’t help myself— 
That thing’s after me 

So bad I want 
To watch it 

Kill me again. 


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Dead Souls


Know this: If the wind that blows through 
The cypresses at night won’t let you sleep, 

There’s still hope for you. 


Monday, June 11, 2012

Erosion of Memory: Shall We Gather at the River?


Could this filthy thread of a rivulet be the river where 

Full-bodied village women gathered each spring 
To wash their hand-loomed rugs

Or is it just another corporate 
Fabrication run loose? 


Saturday, June 9, 2012

The Ultimate Writing Workshop Poem

“. . .and suddenly everything became clear to him.” 


Ok, let’s stand back a bit and look 
At this fragment of a sentence 
From a distance—it comes to us 
From a story by Chekhov; 

Raymond Carver mentions it 
In one of his essays on writing 
But does not tell us its name 
Or what it is about; it could be 

About anything, that much is clear— 
So what say we leave it at that, 
Fast forward instead and imagine 
This sentence as your epitaph. 


Thursday, June 7, 2012

Remembrance


re the mourning doves 
throwing their voices 
from somewhere close 

behind me Lorine’s 
memorable you- 
ah-you calling 

your absence obliquely. 


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Anonymous Papyrus Fragment, Ancient Messene, Date Unknown but Later Than You Think


Fields we had
[        ]
[        ]

[perforated]

[ now?]
[        ]
[        ]
[        ]

[shredded wheat]

Ely[sian?] with honey
[        ]
[        ]
[        ]
[        ]

Bees combing long
[        ] [flaxen?]       

Hair [       ]

[         ]
[         ]
[         ]
[down?]

To your knees      

[the rest wholly eaten away by moths]








Monday, June 4, 2012

Hammock


I don’t know 
If it’s the night 
Wind that sways 

Me or the pines— 
Either way, 
I don’t care. 


Saturday, June 2, 2012

Squeeze Play at the Bottom of the Ninth


Oh Doc if only 

I had the strength to show 
The uniformly moved 
There’s not enough power left 
In these sinews 

To delight them, 
Would they settle 
For my laying down 
A perfect bunt? 


Friday, June 1, 2012

Wild Cyclamen Mode


Heads up though 
Seeing such impossible 

Flowers spring up everywhere 
May not always tend 

To elate one 
Let alone 

Make one feel as they say 
In the pink but oh 

Such mixed blessings 
Should they not 

Then give one pause 
To think? 


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