al-qubba (قُبَّةُ) ~ Saturday, September 28, 2024

When first I was born, I swallowed a book
holier than God left inside a vault
enter an alcove to meet your maker
nothing but a wisp of salty air, look

forgotten by dust, the ashes of bones
in an alcove, God weeps, in debt, whose fault
recovery sets the record, faker
straightens up the bills in the drawers, the cost
to house God inside a bank vault, the stones

I skip on water, Satan's daughter sleeps

within a fury, angry at her lot
as the black pepper in soup, while God weeps
storms in the ocean, beware of his snot

beware as he hocks a loogie, he lost
order, the blue pearl, spun out of control
revel in excess, corals pale a shade
near the atomic bikini atoll

I swallow the book as the decades fade

swarms of bees, my beard, memories, each strand
wash my eyes and face, Satan's daughter calls
as I seek refuge in darkness, so cold
light cannot reach me, as if to demand
liquid clarity filtered beyond pitch
objections aside, she stumbles and falls
words fail me, my bride, I laugh hard and bold
each day the birds curse epithets on race
difficult to say why the sparrows bitch

at passersby, click, the shutter closes

blasphemy to speak of God and the Book
only as the thorns cut my head, roses
olfactory bulb, a scent on a hook
kill me Judas-kind, rood without a trace

Rape Blossoms ~ Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Rape Blossoms. Wait don't you mean, "love blossoms"
as you know with President Blund, rapeseed
predatory behavior presents
exhibit A as curled up opossums.

Blunders persist in politics, she says
laugh at the gaffe, she's not halfwrong, we bleed
over palm oil production, he resents
sinister insinuations of a plot
surreptitious cultivation, he plays
old boy object petit a from a lack
make America Blunder again, crack
sexist jokes on TV, it fills the slot

Forlorn for California ~ Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Sometimes, I wish I could turn back the clock
on a date we were together, not all
maybe four of us, the others elsewhere
everywhere and nowhere, before the shock
tumbling, stumbling, crumbling mumble bunny
in time, I would overcome my own fall
magically, as if I were meant to share
energy elliptic as gravity
sometimes, I wish I could tell how funny

I appear to others, to myself, blind

windows outwards face, mirrors inwards face
if I as body could envision mind
subtle objects in space, I accept grace
however lost within a cavity

I turn back the clock of memories lost

catch-as-catch-can, no-holds-barred, we hold hands
older than teenagers but now no more
until I uncover the total cost
let us just say no more are we at home
difficult as it was, we left our lands

the sea, the sand, the sun, the surf, the shore
until our reunion, thirty years hence
remember life under the big, blue dome
nothing but appearances, all those lies

badgered as an adult, how I look back
at our time together, the stormy skies
cool to watch lightning, at the beach, attack
kindness as a concept, dollars and cents

traffic circles, orbits in gravity
how a moment escapes our awareness
everyday I miss how we are all gone

cancer eats away at the cavity
leaves me lonesome for ages in stages
obliged to lick my wounds in all fairness
cancer is my politics, as a pawn
kiss my friends goodbye as the sea rages

Summum bonum ~ Monday, September 16, 2024

If I were younger ... such is not the case

forget Wittgenstein ... by now, he's long dead

I am just body ... no duality

were I twenty-five ... awareness in place

each day I wake up ... I write down my dreams

read and write and sleep ... Oblomov in bed

each day I study ... mortality

youth is not wasted ... but the best-laid schemes

of enticed children ... ends up in a hole

underground, hidden ... the bodies in piles

needless senselessness ... whatever the goal

granted, rhetoric ... now I run for miles

each day that I rest ... energy I store

rest until I work ... exhausted, what more

sit and meditate ... drop off not drop out

until body fades ... drowning, grasp at straws

challenged by the smoke ... extinguished candle

haunted by the past ... grotesque water spout

if I were older ... and, yes, not dead yet

sycophantic bores ... suffer Plato’s Laws

never a stranger ... untouched by scandal

open up her box ... double entendre

tempted by the fruit ... the irony, bet

tell me, Socrates ... what is emptiness

hold the door open ... good morning, rejoice

engulfed in the fire ... welcome readiness

clasp the necklace shut ... sterling silver voice

as the case might be ... visit Szentendre

sentence St. Andrew ... crucifix saltire

each day in Scotland ... the end of Empire

Darth Verim ~ Saturday, September 14, 2024

If feeder is home
Feeder has not fed me, yet

Feeder must feed me
Empire ends with Rome
Empire sets the world on fire
Devil-may-care, bet
Empire shapes glory
Remind me to wake Feeder

Is as I desire
Shapes glorify sense

Hold me back, where is my food
Old dogs, pure nonsense
Murder is my mood
Empire kills Vader

Poland, 1939 ~ Friday, September 13, 2024

Little do they know
even if I remember
bittersweet kisses
even if I blow
nonsense gestures as I leave
still in September
risk never misses
a mark as golden as dawn
until next time, grieve
make yourself aware

must an educated guess
even if you scare
adults as restless
now as a doe and her fawn
shadows in a show

Reynard ~ Thursday, September 12, 2024

Is it just me then
seeing the one lunatic

inhabiting space-
time since God knows when

just me hearing the sparrows'
unsound rhetoric
suffering with grace
these little chatterboxes

mean by the narrows
emerge black and blue

touch wood solemn under oath
heaven knows where to
enter River Lethe
note the wily, old foxes

Ἀλεξάνδρεια ~ Monday, September 2, 2024

She was my high noon
how goes my missing shadow
eclipsed by the moon

woman makes me croon
as badly as a black cat
sings a sweet fado

must I sing a tune
yes, or howl low as a wolf

how sad not to scat
if only my voice
graced could drown bees down my throat
how this was my choice

now, old as a goat

ornery as foul Rudolf
object of no fan

not catch-as-catch-can