Take it from me, sweetie
Way back then, First Street
Was chock-full of taverns,
Booze joints and cathouses,
But nothing to lick
My Whores Galore--
Two suites of tarts
One flight above
Our only candy store.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Aural
A poem in twenty-four parts, first published in an edition of 190 copies by Gil Ott's Singing Horse Press, 1984.
Στην Ελένη
.
An evocation
to live with
the light
uninvited
..
to be that
touch that
time takes
heart.
...
Even as
you bled
the light
years kept
light
years away
....
What we left
unfinished
remains mist
taken innocence
.....
aye
to
see
the
sea-
girl's
curls
......
At depth, solitude's
but a stone.
The thought of water
petrifies me.
.......
the sea
unfolds
its self
conches
nest
........
Perhaps each
image imagines
itself a
mirror
that breaks
its spell.
.........
muse
here you
can
feel light,
here
..........
sense the
wind
shores the
pines'
reticence
...........
As if the light
weren't
answer enough
just to live
by, asking it.
............
Don't breathe a word.
We were warned before
the wind cut us in two.
.............
even the waters
left speechless
on our lips
sound wishes
..............
To speak what
language
pure and simple,
seeks--no
one will hold
his peace.
...............
Mother's washing
the white
nests everywhere
cries of doves
................
aspirations
What we
hope we
care fully
prepare
praise for
the promise
kept
our silence.
.................
Leaf turning
its yellow
coat flaps
over
winter's back
..................
motive
Act, difficult
to live with
the light
day dreams
leaves intact
...................
harbinger
The message was almond blossoms,
a laying down of arms, warmth.
Morning found us under white
sheets, cool as marble.
....................
Snow dance
down
the meadow
an old
soft shoe
tracks.
.....................
White page.
You give
back what
the world
leaves, laughed
at.
......................
He said the dancers become trees
bared limbs his dreams picked clean.
.......................
a light
lit you
alight
on me
night-
fall
's now
........................
Snow. You fled
before
the rose had
fallen.
Monday, February 2, 2009
After Porchia
Chimeras arrive alone,
But have us with them
When they leave.
(from The Intricate Evasions of As)
But have us with them
When they leave.
(from The Intricate Evasions of As)
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Close Shave; Mean Tourist; Good Tip
"You think too much--clever people and grocers,
they weigh everything."
--Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek
Socrates, my barber, once jumped ship,
Spent an eye-opening week in the States,
Now knows all about the New World
And how things work in it,
Tells me Taxes was great. Taxes? Hell, I all but blurt out
You mean Texas, you dumb Greek, but stop--
The stropping of that blunt,
Anachronous Old World tongue
Raises a new cut to things
As I settle in, he works up
A timely lather,
I sweat out his tip.
(First published in Arabesques Review, v.2, issue 4)
they weigh everything."
--Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek
Socrates, my barber, once jumped ship,
Spent an eye-opening week in the States,
Now knows all about the New World
And how things work in it,
Tells me Taxes was great. Taxes? Hell, I all but blurt out
You mean Texas, you dumb Greek, but stop--
The stropping of that blunt,
Anachronous Old World tongue
Raises a new cut to things
As I settle in, he works up
A timely lather,
I sweat out his tip.
(First published in Arabesques Review, v.2, issue 4)
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