poetryandplaces4

Impressions en Plein Air by Andrena Zawinski

Impressions en Plein Air (From Flight 2199, regarding Monet) by Andrena Zawinski Far above the street scene graffiti of Paris, I think of you, Monet, from the air up here flying this sea foam sky, a shelf of waves against a floor of mist breaking open in patches of blue and white. And I, likeContinue reading “Impressions en Plein Air by Andrena Zawinski”

Gjirokastër Stroll by Norma Wightman

Gjirokastër Stroll by Norma Wightman Workmen hammer the limestone chunks, fitting them tightly into a new walkway. Wheelbarrows of stone and sand stand helter-skelter among workmen as they bend to their labors. They scarcely take notice as tourists weave around the construction to reach shops beckoning with carpets, crochet work, and carvings. I watch theContinue reading “Gjirokastër Stroll by Norma Wightman”

The German Hotel by Charles Bukowski

The German Hotel by Charles Bukowski the German hotel was very strange and expensive and had double doors to the rooms, very thick doors, and it over— looked the park and the vasser tern and in the mornings it was usually too late for breakfast and the maids would be everywhere changing sheets and bringingContinue reading “The German Hotel by Charles Bukowski”

At Ease in Tarragona by Margaret Koger

At Ease in Tarragona by Margaret Koger I’m barefoot, standing on wet sand as waves froth white at my ankles. I tug my strapless a little higher as others exult au naturel in the sun. I wait for the Med to lift me. The man I’ve come lately to love shed his fear of nakedContinue reading “At Ease in Tarragona by Margaret Koger”

One Place in New England by David P.Miller

One Place in New England by David P. Miller to Charles Ives and his symphonic cataclysm The trumpets and drums of “Putnam’s Camp” topple over each other in a race toward high- steppin’ small-town holiday promenade and its irresistible brass detonation. “The Housatonic at Stockbridge”: an immersed orchestral mass, recollected river swelling from flow andContinue reading “One Place in New England by David P.Miller”

Remembering to Ask by Carolyn Chilton Casas

Remembering to Ask by Carolyn Chilton Casas Returning to Arcos de la Frontera, after driving through white hill towns of southern Spain— Ubrique, Grazalema, silent for siesta Zahara de la Sierra, it is dusk as we enter the city gates. Winding streets coil back and forth around the city’s hillside. Most barely allow one-way passage,Continue reading “Remembering to Ask by Carolyn Chilton Casas”

Setia by James Penha

Setia by James Penha Somewhere between Melak and Tanjung Isuy along Borneo’s Mahakam River we entered the house of an old fisherman. He led us into a sitting room divided by a short board fence protecting a shallow pool of water where, against the wall, beneath a crucifix of black ironwood, steeped a crocodile, peacefullyContinue reading “Setia by James Penha”

A Perfect Summer Day by Milton P. Ehrlich

A Perfect Summer Day by Milton P. Ehrlich A perfect day begins the night before. A mackerel net is set in a fireball of a setting sun. Up at dawn before marauding seals have cleaned off the catch, I fillet them on the shore tossing bloody entrails to screeching gulls hovering overhead I deliver aContinue reading “A Perfect Summer Day by Milton P. Ehrlich”

In the Piazza del Duomo, Florence, Italy by Wilda Morris

In the Piazza del Duomo, Florence, Italy by Wilda Morris On this cool November night, I sit at an outside café surrounded on two sides by five-foot glass walls. From here, I can see the Baptistery, a corner of the Giotto’s bell tower. Beyond the Duomo with its red-orange dome, my view is obscured byContinue reading “In the Piazza del Duomo, Florence, Italy by Wilda Morris”

Home of the Desert Rat by Robert Coats

Home of the Desert Rat by Robert Coats …I shall give myself to the desert again—that I, in its golden dust may be blown from a barren peak, broadcast over the sun-lands… —Maynard Dixon, 1935 Three arms of a cloud fuse to form an arrow pointing at the summit of Picacho Peak, its flanks ofContinue reading “Home of the Desert Rat by Robert Coats”