REMEMBERING THE JUNGLE

Albert Bierstadt- A View of Niagara Falls from the American side.

REMEMBERING THE JUNGLE

If we could only

Remember how the

Words worked, the ones

That helped change the seasons

So that no one would notice

Until time itself had piled

Up snow or leaves or

Rain upon rain into the center

Of a month, but we

Could not. Here faces were burned

Off, limbs were regarded

As cord wood, milk spilled

From mouths. We could not

Begin to disguise our disgust

Of the shape dreams made

On the walls of our villages.

Someone said the wands had been

Taken from the area long ago.

Still, we could see lights in the jungle

Night occasionally. They were music.

They were our voices.

We thought they were our homes on fire.

PANIS ANGELICUS

PANIS ANGELICUS

The hour of the Angelus.

The shortest day of the year.

The room all but deserted

But for the figure resting

On the bed, not on light depending.

Hail Mary. The grace of sleep

Through her fine bones

Lift her to vision.

Elizabeth in the next room

Hears nothing, but the soft light

Has a music to it.

Be it done unto me according

To thy word.  The language of flowers.

The angel may or may not have

Beautiful wings, may or may not

Be genuflecting next to Mary,

May or may not be whispering,

May or may not be a dreaming,

But the soft light has a music to it.

O res merabilis!  Unaque poscimus

Sic nos tu visita,  ad lucem quam inhabitas.

            Translation:

 What wonder! We beg of you

That you visit us, the light in which you dwell.

A SMALL TRINKET HELD TO THE SUN

 Albert  Sebille - 5th Centruy B.C. Greek Ship

 Evgeni Gordiets

Listening to the music of the wind - Matthais Haker

This poem is from my collection WHERE THE STARS ARE KEPT.  RATTLESNAKE PRESS - copyright 2007 - 

A SMALL TRINKET HELD TO THE SUN

There is a point where I

Brushed a picture of you across

My mind.  A landscape near the sea.

Unable to bring the islands

Into focus, I called upon the weather.

Moisture in the air, a discrepancy of temperature

Between the forms of water.  Captured

Here, a moment of the heart; alone,

Unaccustomed to such luxury it

Speaks aloud.  "I love you," it says.

We traveled from Paris to Barcelona,

Giving gray to blue, as easily as kisses

Between friends.  The sunlight on

Your face, a certain music in your voice.

In the sky tram above the harbor,

We saw Columbus pointing up Las Ramblas.

"I'll make up a story about our being here,"

I promised.  What would happen?

Now November closes door after door, trying

To end the year as graciously as possible.

I hold you in my arms before you go

To sleep tonight.  The Leonoid meteor

Shower blasts through us; little holes

In every fabric, all unnoticed.

Another song begins, despite the hour.

I listen to it carefully.  We rain into each other.

High above this place, we flash signal after signal.

A SLIGHT BREATHING

 William Blake - Satan before the fall.

A SLIGHT BREATHING

Hovering over the words,

Herding them, moving them

Into small groups. Full of meaning.

Here, the description of the heavens

Staggers forward, dragging

Its collection of constellations

Behind it; fully aware

That these pictures are but part

Of light seen from a single

Place, struggling to maintain

Themselves as the heavens

Reel around them.

These, are the words of lovers.

There is no end to them.

They slide and describe,

Word after word, the varieties of touch;

Definite descriptions, of flesh

Meeting flesh, in all temperatures and climates.

Gratefully, we follow these things,

Charmed that language

Allows us such rooms,

Such variety of discourse.

From the dark hills comes

The coughing of lions,

Calls of birds. William

Blake, moving room to room

Searching for the right phrase.

RAINING

RAINING

It is raining and I am memory,

I am listening to the moments,

Wearing boots and walking just

To hear the sound of splashes

As it wounds the puddles

With the ashes of warm rooms.

It is raining and I am memory,

Sheets of rooster tails turned

Up by automobiles as they tear

The evening apart with headlights,

The hissing of tires in the rain.

It is raining and I am memory

And you are there beyond all this,

Diamonds on your eyelashes,

Sparkles on your lips, a welter

Of words whispered into my ears.

It is raining and I am memory

Washing the edges of the street in sheets

Of weather, smashing into your

Face, naked as water is naked,

All sound and wind fury,

All language reduced to splatters

On the window glass, all rain all memory

Washing like a heart upon the past.

BIG HOTEL

BIG HOTEL

Down the Delta, below Courtland.
Before Walnut Grove, there used to be
A large hotel; "Came right up to
The road.", said Fred, trying to recall
Its name.  Burned down, nothing left
To mark it at all.  No one there able
to recall that name.  The river has
Its own intentions, remembers and
forgets at will, rises and falls,
Carries everything downstream,
Trees, boats, bodies, the procession
Of days, to the Bay, then to the ocean.
It too cannot recall the names.  Its
Past is all the land, its character,
Any particular spot along its course
Recalled at random, collectively agreed
Upon as having some things in common
With the flow of conversation.

SOMEHOW THIS DIDN’T SEEM LIKE THE CITY WE LOVED ANYMORE

SOMEHOW THIS DIDN’T SEEM LIKE THE CITY WE LOVED ANYMORE

The night unwound. A brilliant flashing

From the mouth, a moon in the crook

Of its arm. We walk the streets looking

For a warm place. There are lovely rooms

Just beyond the glass. From the street we can

See people smiling and are able to admire

The beauty of their garments. They seem to

Glow in the reflections from the silver and

Crystal. They show each other their bright

Weapons and slide the slim bullets into the chambers.

From here we cannot hear their laughter.

There are dreams sweeter than this one.

At least here I can hold you for a moment, never

Mind the wind. At least here I can trace the shape

Of your mouth with my finger and gaze into your

Face. It is as warm as the den of a fox. I push my nose

Into the hollow at the base of your neck and smell

The summer of you, honey in the wheat fields.

When the police got here we were leaning

On the window sill still looking at the ruckus

On the street. Nowadays no one wonders what

They are up to. Surely someone has done some

Wrong and deserves this kind of treatment. I

Watch shadows push shadows into cars full of circling

Red and blue lights. Someone says “Oh God” and then

Asks God’s mother for help. There are sounds I wouldn’t

Want to repeat in a poem. The street is awash with red

Weeping. The party lights shine on. I hold you

In my arms for the longer moment. We agree

Never to learn the words to these kinds of songs.