Ode to an Encyclopediaby James Arthur O hefty hardcover on the built-in shelf in my parents’ living room,O authority stamped on linen paper, molted from your dust jacket,Questing Beast of blue and gold, you were my companion on beige afternoons that came slanting through the curtainsbehind the rough upholstered chair. You knew how to trimContinue reading “Ode to an Encyclopedia by James Arthur”
Monthly Archives: October 2020
The World Book by Patricia Hooper
The World Book by Patricia Hooper When the woman in blue sergeheld up the sun, my motheropened the storm door, takingthe whole volume of Sinto her hands. The sunshown as a sun should,and we sat down at the tableleafing through silks and ships,saints and subtraction. We passedScotland and Spain, street-cars and seeds and eventhe Seven WondersContinue reading “The World Book by Patricia Hooper”
Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad, Sunset at Bombo
Sunset at Bombo by Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad The cliffs of Bombo Headland burn in a fuchsia sunset crags and ridges awash in a medley of violet and tangerine. In the depths of the Kiama sea columns of igneous rock stamp their ancient weight night thickens and settles mottled with astral glitter — a sprinkling ofContinue reading “Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad, Sunset at Bombo”
Great Barrier by Barbara Kingsolver
Great Barrierby Barbara Kingsolver The cathedral is burning. Absent flame or smoke,stained glass explodes in silence, fractal scalesof angel damsel rainbow parrot. Charred beamsof blackened coral lie in heaps on the sacred floor,white stones fallen from high places, spires collapsedcrushing sainted turtle and gargoyle octopus. Something there is in my kind that cannot lovea reef,Continue reading “Great Barrier by Barbara Kingsolver”
An Old City, Czech Republic by Laurel Benjamin
An Old CityCzech Republicby Laurel Benjamin I’m standing on a street corner in an old city after darkwhere no one appears after midnight—no couples arm in arm coming from a drinking spot,no bicyclists, no streetcars. A black dog enters the street, dragging his ownerwho struggles to hold strands of other dogs,and with one hand steersContinue reading “An Old City, Czech Republic by Laurel Benjamin”
I Have Seen Terezín by Andrena Zawinski
I Have Seen Terezínby Andrena Zawinski (from Frankie’s on the Divisadero in San Franciscoafter Friedl Dicker-Brandeis’“Untitled, 1944, Terezin”) The sign at Frankie’s Bohemian Cafe reads 6,303 miles to Prague.Inside a shadowed corner I have brambory, rough bread, Pilsner—the same way I did in the sleepy Bohemian border town of Terezín.I still hear from here mothers’Continue reading “I Have Seen Terezín by Andrena Zawinski”
Koi Pond, Oakland Museum by Susan Kolodny
Koi Pond, Oakland Museumby Susan Kolodny Our shadows bring them from the shadows:a yolk-yellow one with a navy patternlike a Japanese woodblock print of fish scales.A fat 18-karat one splashed with gaudy purpleand a patch of gray. One with a gold head,a body skim-milk-white, trailing ventral finslike half-folded fans of lace.A poppy-red, faintly disheveled one,andContinue reading “Koi Pond, Oakland Museum by Susan Kolodny”
Doggie Diner, Geary and Arguello, 1969 by Vince Gotera
Doggie Diner, Geary and Arguello, 1969 by Vince Gotera Out of San Francisco night, the cool fog’s gray fingers caressing hills and houses, emerged, in chef’s hat and bowtie, the Dog, ten-foot-tall dachshund’s head in fiberglass. Tina, my first real high school girlfriend, and I entered through the shiny glass doors, holding hands, both in hippieContinue reading “Doggie Diner, Geary and Arguello, 1969 by Vince Gotera”
San Francisco by Richard Brautigan
San Franciscoby Richard Brautigan This poem was found written on a paper bag by Richard Brautigan in a laundromat in San Francisco. The author is unknown. By accident, you putYour money in myMachine (#4)By accident, I putMy money in anotherMachine (#6)On purpose, I putYour clothes in theEmpty machine fullOf water and noClothes It was lonely.Continue reading “San Francisco by Richard Brautigan”
Kabul by Shakila Azizzada
Kabulby Shakila Azizzada Translated by Zuzanna Olszewska with Mimi Khalvati If my heart beatsfor Kabul,it’s for the slopes of Bala Hissar,holding my deadin its foothills. Though not one, not oneof those wretched heartsever beat for me. If my heart grievesfor Kabul,it’s for Leyla’s sighs of“Oh, dear God!”and my grandmother’s heartset pounding. It’s for Golnar’s eyesscanningContinue reading “Kabul by Shakila Azizzada”
POETRY and PLACES 