flying toward me,
less than; passing,
greater than
Open Mic Alert!
Here’s a treat for you all, a new reading by Robert Okaji. Please check it out at the February 2017 Open Mic Page.
And do you yourself a favor. Visit his web site. I’m sure you’ll find something amazing there.
an early morning flight (20170217)
geese exit the preserve
a self-organizing v
constructed of
even numbers
off center by
one
the extra bird
tips the balance
a thrown boomerang
tugging the fulcrum leader
like gravity’s sweet whisper
if i messaged myself while trying to write a poem (20170216)
breaking into a sweat–no
breaking into a swear
after the nightly walk
wait
stroll
breaking into a swear
after a twilight stroll
wouldn’t you break into a sweat during the stroll?
that’s i why changed it to swear
don’t act like you knew where this train was going
you just bought the ticket
sight unseen
you didn’t even wonder about
the direction the tracks pointed–
breaking into a swear
following the course
of our discourse
very clever
you know what? fuck off
you always resort to swearing
when you run out of things to say
that’s kind of the point
New Open Mic Poem
Hey, February is exploding with Open Mic goodness. Head over to the Open Mic Page to hear Pleasant Street’s latest addition. And as always, visit her site. You’ll be better off for it.
liminal space beneath a rock (20170215)
today i lifted the rock
where as a child
i always found a menagerie
hapless creatures
slugs pillbugs spiders worms
damp in the shade between
their stone sky
and wet earth beneath
their many feet and raw bellies
only dry dust coated
the bottom of the stone
no damp earth, but a hole
carved through the earth
and in it
the sky on the other side
of the world
as if someone had placed
a mirror beneath the rock
but the sky below
held stars other than sun
and placing my hand through
the small opening
i felt ocean spray
on my palm
and no distance between here
and there
Today’s Open Mic
Why, it’s from me! It’s the third most popular poem from my site last (according to WordPress stats) and it’s oddly appropriate for today’s date.
Please head over to the February 2017 Open Mic Page with all due haste and suffer through the madness inducing tones of my eldritch vocalizations. And the only cure for such madness is to make your audio offering. After all, ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!
conversing heart (20170214)
you are an
explosion of blood
in my chest
you the flames licking
at the bones of my ribs
whoever painted cupid
as an insipid
arrow aiming toddler
was never in love
you are a piston
in my heart
keeping me alive
giving that four-chambered muscle
a reason to contract
——
revenant (20170213)
this is how we find us
broken open
like the head of a fine
china doll
this space between
this silence a ghost
of words
this silence a slow fade
of smiles
a spectral liminal shade
we touch
the sound of yellowed paper
rustling
——
germination (20170212)
i grow a forest sapling by sapling
shade loving and rough barked
while leaves turn upward seeking light
the roots
demand darkness
the roots
feed the tree
driving into the earth
drinking its life
its undulating fingers writhe
in the fecund loam
strangling the living and the dead
this is what makes the tree blossom
this is what produces the bounty of fruit
the juice that runs down your chin
the soft sweet flesh between your teeth
the satisfied smile when you spit out the seeds
Words and Feathers 