The world and ourselves pass away
We go on
. . . . .and enter the dance
What other chances are there
we could think of as
. . . . .already prepared?
American poet
an old favorite of mine: Matchbook Poem by Paul Blackburn
BUT WHY do you go to the wall?
WHY does he go to the wall?
You go to the
wall because
that’s where the door is
maybe.
Speech by Robert Creeley
Simple things
one wants to say
like, what’s the day
like, out there–
who am I
and where.
poem on Nature by Emily Dickinson
“Nature” is what we see–
The Hill–the Afternoon–
Squirrel–Eclipse–the Bumble bee–
Nay–Nature is Heaven–
Nature is what we hear–
The Bobolink–the Sea–
Thunder–the Cricket–
Nay–Nature is Harmony–
Nature is what we know–
Yet have no art to say–
So impotent Our Wisdom is
To her Simplicity.
The Surrogate by Paul Blackburn
She stole ma hat
. . .ma hat . was in the lounge with ma jacket
The jacket she dint take it, but
. . . . . . . ma hat, she tukkit, clean
. . . . . . . outa the place . she liked
ma hat . & went with it to the room & danced
. . .. .DANCED with it, wearing the hat she
. . . . . . . . . . . . DANCED!
Wearin the hat, she
danced, and dint expect I’d cum back ferit . ah did.
. . . . .Pretended I hadn’t figured it out
. . . . .talkin with her friend . I’d figured
. . . . . . . .she laiked ma hat.
The next mornin, nobuddy up, both of em sleepin late.
. . . . . . . . .”Come in”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . /
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I did, & there it wass,
my hat
on the bed, she’d bigod
. . . . . . . . . . . slept with me hat!
Go by Robert Creeley
Push that little
thing up and the
other right down.
It’ll work.
Insomnia by Elizabeth Bishop
The moon in the bureau mirror
looks out a million miles
(and perhaps with pride, at herself,
but she never, never smiles)
far and away beyond sleep, or
perhaps she’s a daytime sleeper.
By the Universe deserted,
she’d tell it to go to hell,
and she’d find a body of water,
or a mirror, on which to dwell.
So wrap up care in a cobweb
and drop it down the well
into that world inverted
where left is always right,
where the shadows are really the body,
where we stay awake all night,
where the heavens are shallow as the sea
is now deep, and you love me.
Invitation Standing by Paul Blackburn
BRING a leaf to me
just a leaf just a
spring leaf, an
april leaf
just
come
Blue sky
never mind
Spring rain
never mind
Reach up and
take a leaf and
come
just come
Wild Nights–Wild Nights! by Emily Dickinson
Wild Nights–Wild Nights!
Were I with thee
Wild Nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile–the Winds–
To a heart in port–
Done with the Compass–
Done with the Chart!
Rowing in Eden–
Ah, the Sea!
Might I but moor–Tonight–
In Thee!
from T.S. Eliot
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
Leonard Durso 