The cold of your breath doesn’t disturb meas I lie here all nightwhile your perfume passes through—incarnated to rock, sand and tide. I sing the song that used to fill youwith bliss, wrap you in white linenand carry you until you turn to frostset down gently between the flimsy craft’s gunnels.Now your flaming sails billow toward Valhalla.Your face has lost its deep grooves,smooth as tallow … Continue reading My Mother’s Ghost by Dale Champlin
after Benjamin Curtaz & Son,a painting by Joyce Savre I’m tired now,a little out of tune.Still upright, I waitfor fingers to curveover my keys, voicesto hum melodies. The fun we’ve had!The family, my family,gathered ‘round me—Joyce’s joints bangingout Christmas carols,a little ragtime, nurseryjams—maybe Chopin, maybeProkofiev. A child bounceson her lap, another standsnear, grips a cornerof my frame. Jim strums his guitar, modulates,harmonizes—tunes to the keyof … Continue reading Piano by Charlie Brice
At this age pulling down the sheetscan unfold an unbearable sadness. People you’ve known all your lifegive up on yousuddenlylike an ice storm that cancels spring. You’ve read the sutras,studied the dogma,lit the incense, watchedthe smoke waft away to nowhere. You’ve known all along about impermanence,but living it is another matter. You witness your wife hobble through herdays, each day a little less able, her … Continue reading At This Age by Charlie Brice
I know youdon’t like raspberriesbecause the edgy seedsrub you the wrong waybut I have urgedand bitten the sharpnessout of themleaving onlythe notes of roseand cherry singingsweetly waitingdaintily for you onthe tip of my tongue Continue reading Chewing On It by Susan Shea
In Prague there is a forty-five-tonkinetic head of Kafka that rotatesaround in segments allowingthe face to keep creating itselfto focus on different viewsof the town square as a fitting tribute to the manwho worked right thereknown for turning a discontentedclerk into a bug while he slept he is now stuck in this revolvingweight, still showing ustransformation has its limitationswhen someone else decides wherewe will be … Continue reading Composition by Susan Shea
Coffee.Glug.Juke.Slug.Spam And Egg.Powder Keg.Cook.Boozer.SelfAbuser.HamOn Rye.Alibi.We’re EatingAt Wolfie’sYeah Yeah.Eating AtWolfie’s Tonight.Booth.Red.Bug.Dead.Grease.Splatter.Gray Matter.Clean Your Plate.Looks Like Bait.Pay The Bill.Abdicate.WaitressHip.Leather Whip.Don’t Forget To LeaveA Tip.Life’s ADrag A Reflex Gag.Don’t ForgetYour Doggy Bag. Continue reading Eating at Wolfie’s by Charlie Robert
I figured it out. Death is a calibrated average of life’s boredoms. Nothing much changes, and it goes on forever. What of heaven and hell? One day, out of the blue, an angel turns up with a message: They have seen the light. Your name is now a song. Continue reading Beloved, My Belated, Beloved by Robert Witmer
how he turned thereon the bank of thedark river and saidfook you, get all thosebooks away from me.and I stopped andsaid, well fook you toothen. he seemed to likethat and smiled.and I said SamSam what am I goingto do? still smilinghe cocked his head.you keep going,keep going tillthe end of the road.and what then I askedwhat then?he said nothing, just stared at me still smiling.the dark … Continue reading Sam by Frank Freeman
