A Snail in Istanbulby James Sutherland-Smith The sultan of moisture creepsOn a flagstone shadowed by nettles.He carries his turban on his backAnd shows his tentacles, a scholarBareheaded out of the mosque.No doubt his hidden mouth is primThough his tongue, rough with hungerNot prayer, will rasp on greenery:One foot, one lung, one kidney,One gonad, mostly male,Continue reading “James Sutherland-Smith, A Snail in Istanbul”
Tag Archives: Travel
Istanbul by Ümit Yaşar Oğuzcan
Istanbul by Ümit Yaşar Oğuzcan A room in the house, Istanbul in the room A mirror in the room, Istanbul in the mirror The man lit his cigarette, an Istanbul smoke The woman opened her purse, Istanbul in the purse The child cast a fishing line, I saw, And he started to draw it, IstanbulContinue reading “Istanbul by Ümit Yaşar Oğuzcan”
That autumn was abundant by Marjorie Agosín
That autumn was abundant by Marjorie Agosín Translated by Jacqueline Nanfito That autumn was abundant In Istanbul the ancient and platinum Women with their faces covered and discovered My grandfather arrived on foot to this Ottoman city From the desolate Sebastopol and from other burned villages, From the bloody snow. He spoke about its minaretsContinue reading “That autumn was abundant by Marjorie Agosín”
Connemara by Maureen Grady
Connemaraby Maureen Grady I must now leave this landthat I love with a physical longing. There’s a Covid! a tiny local woman calls out,breathless and afraid,as she waves to me from the crossroad.She runs round to my windowto see who I might be,and what in the world I am doingthere in the far, far westonContinue reading “Connemara by Maureen Grady”
Lines Written on a Seat on the Grand Canal, Dublin by Patrick Kavanagh
Lines Written on a Seat on the Grand Canal, Dublinby Patrick Kavanagh O commemorate me where there is water,Canal water, preferably, so stillyGreeny at the heart of summer. BrotherCommemorate me thus beautifullyWhere by a lock niagarously roarsThe falls for those who sit in the tremendous silenceOf mid-July. No one will speak in proseWho finds hisContinue reading “Lines Written on a Seat on the Grand Canal, Dublin by Patrick Kavanagh”
Spring in Belfast by Derek Mahon
Spring in Belfastby Derek Mahon Walking among my own this windy morningIn a tide of sunlight between shower and shower,I resume my old conspiracy with the wetStone and the unwieldy images of the squinting heart.Once more, as before, I remember not to forget. There is a perverse pride in being on the sideOf the fallenContinue reading “Spring in Belfast by Derek Mahon”
Speaking of Iowa: The sun at noon by James Hearst
Speaking of Iowa: The sun at noon by James Hearst No country leads so softly to nowhere as those slow shoulders that curtain the horizon let us hold the sun at noon in this valley for morning will not come again. We will watch the trees grow up and the flowers stiffen and brightly dressedContinue reading “Speaking of Iowa: The sun at noon by James Hearst”
Dubuque, Iowa by Eve Triem
Dubuque, Iowaby Eve Triem Travelers notice this town for its bricks,(warehouse and mill) sun-and-snow weatheredto apricot and dahlia. And then that it is a port,the streets in waves winding from a riverand flying the side of a hill, like gulls. They will climb the stair-sprayed hill—the hill, a ball-player’s arm swung up for a catch Continue reading “Dubuque, Iowa by Eve Triem”
Butter by Andrea Cohen
Butterby Andrea Cohen I’ve never seen the landof milk and honey, but at the Iowa State Fair I glimpseda cow fashioned of butter. It lived behind a windowin an icy room, beneath klieg lights. I filed past as one filespast a casket at a wake. It was that sad: a butter cowwithout a butter calf.Continue reading “Butter by Andrea Cohen”
New Zealand by James K. Baxter
New Zealandby James K. Baxter for Monte Holcroft These unshaped islands, on the sawyer’s bench,Wait for the chisel of the mind,Green canyons to the south, immense and passive,Penetrated rarely, seeded onlyBy the deer-culler’s shot, or else in the northTribes of the shark and the octopus,Mangroves, black hair on a boxer’s hand. The founding fathers withContinue reading “New Zealand by James K. Baxter”
POETRY and PLACES 