Poetry

A belief is all we have
A belief is all we have to hold on to, some warmth weaning us for darker times when we thicket each other's softest spots, make our fingers lost and blow weightless snow in each other's faces when we make chocolate gestures, blanket soft talk in some rearrangement of tired starlight
I ride a subway train
I ride a subway train, home-bound There are empty seats; I feel a cool breeze. Two rhinoceroses walk by I think: my wife and I.
The Playground
The chubby boy points his toy gun at another boy His great grandfather fought in the war. This is not a guess. I am sure. His great grandmother was maybe a comfort lady to the invaders. But his gun is only made of plastic. He will be forgotten. I look at the boys. I see ...
Circle of Life
You too will get the e-mail from the hospital You don't know when, or which hospital, or if the doctor has been born yet, but it will come. The good news is that you can already respond to that e-mail, by giving birth to some humor.
Vernacular
coffee beans and machine guns change we can believe in. blackness is an ideal churches full of popcorn mumbling generals in tank tops nightliners piercing darkness a dead dog's candy eye, the tightrope of history cigarette butts drowned in cold coffee orphans and Eurydice in ironed T-shirts earthworms tunneling underfoot abandoned swimming pools, and an ...
Reading: Love Poem for an Enemy by Richard Katrovas
Richard Katrovas (b. 1953) is a poet born in Norfolk, Virginia, who writes formalist poetry to compensate for the chaos of his childhood. He has been widely anthologized; I read a fun poem that I found today (I usually prepare these posts about 1-2 months in advance, so ' today' in this case means March 7th) ...
Reading: After Us by Nikola Madzirov
Nikola Madzirov (b. 1973) is a Macedonian poet, probably the most famous one alive, who also writes essays and translations. I was looking for a younger Eastern European poet today and I found him.
Silly Poem
"Said Hamlet to Ophelia, I'll draw a sketch of thee, What kind of pencil shall I use? 2B or not 2B?" - Spike Milligan
Reading: Lucky by Tony Hoagland
Tony Hoagland (1953 - 2018) was a witty and acerbic poet from North Carolina. Many awards. Some great and demonically intense poems. Here goes: Lucky If you are lucky in this life, you will get to help your enemy the way I got to help my mother when she was weakened past the point of ...