the short leather dress
that zips up the front
the soft leather boots
knee length with heels
the broad brim black hat
tilted back jauntily
on her head
of cascading brown hair
hands on her hips
as she stops
a defiant stance
an in your face look
on that beautiful face
as if to say
I know who I am
do you
and if not
well
that’s your loss
isn’t it
Month: January 2022
untitled poem by Onakatomi No Yoshinobu
The deer on pine mountain,
Where there are no falling leaves,
Know the coming of autumn
Only by the sound of his own voice.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
Maria on the beach
she emerges
from the surf
her bikini clad body
glistening in the sun
she strides forward
a lioness
on the prowl
the queen here
on this beach
in her world
she owns the looks
she receives
like so many rose petals
scattered before her feet
that smile of satisfaction
on her lips
that knowledge of her power
in her eyes
Maria
on the beach
This Couldn’t Happen Again by Paul Blackburn
the heavy pressure
of the presence of your body in the room
moving
O love,
is the end of my
imaginings
this late afternoon
feeling again at this window
the sensation of weight received
in that displacement
the small waves
lapping against me
constantly
on reading Su Tung-p’o
I find solace
in reading poetry
written one thousand years ago
the same grief
the same laughter
the same drunken reverie
to know life
then as now
is a moment of joy
amid years of sorrow
is somehow reassuring
to this old man
passing through
Leonard Durso 