a name
on the tip
of my tongue
I cannot dislodge
but the face
so clearly
in focus
as something
stirs like emotion
causing tears
to wet my beard
Month: December 2024
Beside Mirror Terrace on Yellow Mountain River by Ch’oe Ch’iwon
The river winds through mist shrouded peaks,
houses and mountains face to face in the water.
A solitary boat takes the full breeze, whither is it bound?
Look! A bird flies off and vanishes without a trace.
translated by Kevin O’Rourke
from Song of a Madman by Yi Saek
When I have money, I buy wine. No need for second thoughts.
When I have wine, I want flowers. Why hesitate?
I look at the flowers, drink the wine, let my white hair stream free;
I climb East Mountain, enjoy the moon and the breeze.
translated by Kevin O’Rourke
Song of Night on a Boat by Pak Illyang
The ancient land of Koryo is far away;
autumn breezes blow; confusion fills the wayfarer’s heart.
A night’s dream on a lonely boat
spread in waves across the moonlit waters of Dongting Lake.
translated by Kevin O’Rourke
from Three Laments: I by Diane DiPrima
Alas
I believe
I might have become
a great writer
but
the chairs
in the library
were too hard
Song For Baby-O, Unborn by Diane DiPrima
Sweetheart
when you break thru
you’ll find
a poet here
not quite what one would choose.
I won’t promise
you’ll never go hungry
or that you won’t be sad
on this gutted
breaking
globe
but I can show you
baby
enough to love
to break your heart
forever
The Basic Con by Lew Welch
Those who can’t find anything to live for,
always invent something to die for.
Then they want the rest of us to
die for it, too.
poem by Oshikochi No Mitsune
The white chrysanthemum
Is disguised by the first frost.
If I wanted to pick one
I could find it only by chance.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
In Response to Rexroth
Not to forget to mention
the women and children,
they are murdering them now
all over the world
too
from Thou Shalt Not Kill by Kenneth Rexroth
They are murdering all the young men.
For half a century now, every day,
They have hunted them down and killed them.
They are killing them now.
At this minute, all over the world,
They are killing the young men.
They know ten thousand ways to kill them.
Every year they invent new ones.
In the jungles of Africa,
In the marshes of Asia,
In the deserts of Asia,
In the slave pens of Siberia,
In the slums of Europe,
In the nightclubs of America,
The murderers are at work.
Leonard Durso 