Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Nympho Muse's Classic Ruse


So you think the trick’s in 

Playing it straight 
And narrow, eh? 

Well, come again, Mr. 
Prim and proper one shot— 

That wild Parian would 
Shaft me widely from every angle 

And with a twisted, wicked slant.





Tuesday, May 29, 2012

VAZAMBAM EXCLUSIVE: DUTCH TOURIST DISCOVERS NEW ENTRANCE TO HADES!


In lieu of my usual poetic fare, I want to promote this exclusive once-in-a-lifetime photo taken only yesterday on one of the side streets of Meligalas only a few feet from the town’s main thoroughfare. With one foot on a ladder (which the local authorities presumably used as a warning marker) and with the promise of hitherto unimagined heights of elation awaiting him, we can see the tourist in question proudly showing off his discovery; unfortunately, before he could return with the proper spelunking gear, he found the entrance hermetically sealed by these same authorities who perhaps suddenly became wary of the adverse odoriferous publicity that would run rampant were the area to be overrun by tourists flocking to see a tributary of the effluent Styx flowing mellifluously under their feet. 

By the way, I think it highly poetic and fitting that this intrepid discoverer should hail from one of Europe’s Low Countries.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Ionian


white 


pebbles

in

the

sun


the

sea

run

ning


all

the

blue

in


the

world


and

then

some


Saturday, May 26, 2012

Frame of Reference


Lay your burden down, brother— 
I’m sure you’ve heard this one before 
And I don’t want to sound irreverent 
Or flippant but isn’t it a bit incongruous? 

I mean, we’ve been lugging 
Our frames around for ages 
And we still don’t know where 
The big picture is. 


Friday, May 25, 2012

Metaphysical Iris


Sense! 

You keep after me saying it’s merely 
A matter of sense but in what sense 

Shall you stalk me in my absence? 


Thursday, May 24, 2012

Final Electrifying Performance before the Polls


The firebrand 

Sturm und Drang poet turned 
Pol knew he had them 

Eating out of his hands when 
Their brows were singed 

By a tumultuous clap 
Of thunder. 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Monday, May 21, 2012

Old Timers' Resurrection


Easter is the time 
We are reminded of 

Christ’s incredible feat— 
Believe it or not, it happens 

Every year without fail 
And we rejoice once more 

And wonder if we’ll live 
To remember it 

Next year. 


Saturday, May 19, 2012

Field


Of composition: 

The red wind- 
Swept wind 
Flowers encircling 

A lone 

Wild fig tree tossing 
In the center 
Of an undulating 

Green. 


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Busker Klee Shayd Tudéth’s “Skid Row Pedestrian Spiel”

(Key of lachrymose acrimony) 

Someday I’m gonna get that
Tin-eared Tin Pan Alley plugger
Who done this to me and make him pay—
One way or another, bet your bottom dollar
He’ll get what’s coming, come what may.

While we’re waiting, mister
You sure do look familiar, so don’t give me
That idiomatic song and dance
‘bout times being hard—You 
Can’t spare a dime? Like hell!
I hear platters are a dime a dozen
On Easy Street. And me?
I ain’t eaten in a week.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

On the Style of a Certain "Decadent" Alexandrian

(after E.M. Forster’s famous description of C.P. Cavafy) 


Don’t look away, philistine—he looks 
To be bending 

His frame of reference slightly 
Aslant to the world’s 

Universal decadence. 





Sunday, May 13, 2012

Quest


lost 


pilgrim 

finds


himself 

on 


godforsaken 

path


he 

calls 


progress 


Saturday, May 12, 2012

Distance

—for Tom Clark 


I must tell you how

Under a clear afternoon sky, 
I sat under an umbrella 
Reading a friend’s book 

Of poems that had traveled 
Halfway round the world 
To end up here— 

In the evening, no umbrella, 
No moon in sight, no need to tell you 
How close the stars were that night. 




Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Malady of the Squint-eyed Kid


Whatever has come over me?
My thinking’s cloudy, I cannot see—

On second thoughts, no use to think,
No use to see

Whatever it is,
It must be me. 


Sunday, May 6, 2012

One More Transient Thought for the Day


When the watchdog you keep mindfully
On a leash keeps on barking 

In the dead of night, be on the lookout 
For strays out looking 
 
For somewhere to bed down,
And not just for the night. 


Friday, May 4, 2012

Startled by the Unimaginable


To understand how sunstruck 

Swallows resemble angels 
Of the morning, 

One only has to imagine two 
Of them flying through two 

Different windows, hovering 
Together over a double 

Bed before darting out, each 
Through a different window— 

See how easy that was? 


Thursday, May 3, 2012

Conrad DiDiodato's Bridget Bird and Other Poems



 










Recently arrived:  All the way from Canada—with lots of wonderful poems tucked under her wings—a sprightly little creature named Bridget! If prospective readers want some idea of the cargo she’s carrying, all they have to do is read what Katherine L. Gordon says about it on the book’s back cover and then wing themselves to the nearest bookstore and--I'll give them six seconds to sing--buy it! 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Aporia


When I’m beside myself, 
The last thing I want 
To think about is why 
That person beside me looks lonely. 


Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Wind Chimes


recounting 

Cid’s windbell 
tattle— 
telling 
nothing 
nothing 

but still telling 


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