My poem, “Letter from Kansas,” is up at Silver Birch Press as part of their “Me, at 17” Prose and Poetry Series.
My Poem, “Letter from Kansas,” is up at Silver Birch Press
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Tag Archives: perception
Countdown: #1, Letter to a Ghost
My last five posts of 2016 are reruns of the five most viewed poems on this site during the year. This one, by far the most popular, also made its first appearance here in June, and received a large bump in views due to a Halloween link on Discover. Many thanks to editor Cheri Lucas Rowlands for her support.
Letter to a Ghost
Had I not dreamed your death, I would have praised this day.
Your name rests in a wooden box on a desk
in a room far away and twice as old as we were then.
My penance in this phase: to continue.
I gather words close and refrain from admissions.
The clock on the wall seldom chimes,
like one whose vows circumvent convenience, or
a shade allowing the barest sliver of light
through the window. That tock preceding
a long silence. Snow blanketing the mounded earth.
Your scent never lingers past sleep, where you remain.
At last I no longer covet those sheets you’ve shared.
Your name rests in a box. I gather words and refrain.
My Poem, “To the Light Entering the Shack One December Evening,” is Up at Shantih
My Poem, “To the Light Entering the Shack One December Evening,” is up at Shantih. Many thanks to editor David L. White for including me among these pages.
My Poem (and recording) “Driving without Radio” is up at Split Rock Review
My poem “Driving without Radio” is up at Split Rock Review. And there’s a recording of it, as well. Many thanks to editor Crystal Gibbins for providing a home for this one.
Stone Path (after Tu Mu)
Stone Path (after Tu Mu)
High up the cold mountain a stone path rises
to the village in the white clouds.
I stop the carriage and inhale the evening fragrance,
its red, frosted maple leaves richer than any spring flower.
I may have inserted a bit more of myself into this adaptation than is my usual custom. I hope it does not intrude.
The transliteration on Chinese-poems.com reads:
Far on cold mountain stone path slant
White cloud live place be households
Stop carriage because love maple forest evening
Frost leaf red than second month flower
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This adaptation first appeared in October 2014.
3 Centos Published in LONG EXPOSURE
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Three of my centos have been published in Long Exposure. Many thanks to editor Daniel Williams for taking these pieces (What the Body Gives, Gravity Takes; Still Hands; Chill) which have previously appeared on this blog.
3 Poems Up at Otoliths
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Three of my poems are now up at Otoliths. Many thanks to editor Mark Young for taking these odd (my word) pieces.
My Poem, Conjunctions and Other Synapses, is The Blue Nib Poem of the Day
My poem, Conjunctions and Other Synapses, is today’s featured Poem of the Day on The Blue Nib site. Many thanks to The Blue Nib team!
In the Key of Your Hour
In the Key of Your Hour
The words I sing are draped in silence,
wedged between notes yet flowing forward.
Stop-time presents the illusion of interrupted tempo and meter.
Perception informs our spirits.
The old guitar hangs on the wall and seldom speaks,
preferring instead to lightly hum when the wind blows just so.
The conceit of two right hands. A slamming door.
Music enters my room by subterfuge, but exits boldly.
If simultaneity is relative, how do we assign primacy
to an overtone? One voice, one whole.
We must respond to our bodies. In kind, with trust.
I ask you to listen without considering the requisite commitment.
The broken circle represents common time replete with imperfections,
linking the measurable to the internal well.
Gather what comes, no matter the source.
Mark time and repeat: harmonics, the quivering string. Breath.
“In the Key of Your Hour” appears in my chapbook-length work, The Circumference of Other, which is included in IDES: A Collection of Poetry Chapbooks, published by Silver Birch Press in 2015.
My Poem “Between” Is Up On Clade Song
I thought I’d repost this as it was given short shrift during the 30/30 frenzy.
Many thanks to editors Joshua McKinney and Tim Kahl for including my poem “Between” in the current issue of Clade Song, one of my favorite poetry journals. A recording is also available for your amusement. And please check out the beautiful and intriguing musical piece on the home page – composed of various animal calls, guitar, flute and shaker.
O at the Edges 