I was a baby-faced eagle who woke in January. Flying near a screen, I had to stop before I could even start. I witnessed barricaded doors being torn apart. Subjects wielded weighty flagpoles. They smashed at the foundation; the shards were yelled out whole. Guards were knocked into crying arms, and eagles looked around for […]
Poetry
Posted inPoetry
Still life with flower
By the greatest of powerHidden from viewThe journey beganTo still life with flower Top of the towerInfinite stepsLast one attainedTo still life with flower Colors blended and pulsedSubtle and strongFrom a distanceA never heard song Out to the edgeEmpty and vastPeak of perfectionThen on past With lingering glowAbsolute peaceLasting foreverThe final release Nothing to distractRiver […]
Posted inPoetry
Fire Season
Fire season, Harvest season, So much here to do. Preparing dinner from Our abundant harvest, With corn, summer squash, And tomatoes, too. I’m deep in the middle When I hear a sound I know. Aircraft, helicopter, Flying close and flying low. Not just any aircraft The heavy roar is quite unique. It’s CalFire up above, […]
Posted inPoetry
After Afghan Quake, many male rescuers aided only men, avoided women
(headline, Boston Globe) The moon burns bright enough to see but I’m not allowed glasses it’s all blurry to me The night is so quiet there’s hardly any noise no more cries from the little boys We looked at each other disbelieving the shake moved in a panic as the walls started to break We […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Poetry in the Parks
Barn swallows skim the meadow breathing the summer scent of dry grass and dandelion, maneuvering tails as precise as parabolas, open mouths to catch flies with slight sideways snatches, sleek indigo wings dodge swaying heads of Harding grass, avoiding thickets of bracken fern, rust-colored torsos soar up and over, climb into the mild blue sky, […]
Posted inArts + Scene
horses, burden, vraiment
you don’t tell what you know you barely know what you tell. not news, i know. but we lurch into a wave broken on its spine or die trying anyway the midnight sky isn’t any murkier than the the bottom of the sea and the next world doesn’t care all that much how we feel […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Nightfall
To be outside as the sky darkens An evening so calm you can Hear the river even over The chorus of frogs. To breathe in the air of paradise As stars begin to bloom In the moonless sky, multiplying Until the heavens shimmer. I bathe my soul in the endless Wonders of the universe And […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Gatherings
Behind the stone wall, They dreamed in the luxuries Of dried grass. Here, the miseries were far away. Woven into the symmetries of thistle, Shaded by specks of leaves Restless on the afternoon, Now suddenly still, While the sweetness reaches Almost too far now, And the last cheating light Leads them home once again. Sam […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Dear Nana
I am not feeling Like I was when You were alive 30 years ago, And we talked About times On your farm In Anthon, Iowa. Now, I feel like you Must have then, Filled with gratitude For all the memories Pricelessly floating Between heartbeats, Settling down As all is said And done. Kirk Gothier
Posted inArts + Scene
Fathers Day
In raising children, Everything that matters Becomes apparent. Kirk Gothier
Posted inArts + Scene
stray pianos that live near the freeway lean on one leg
alongside frontage road between freeway and row after row of row house a piano straddles the broken train track the only thing unparalleled in the room it leans against the leg that ends with foot pumping peddle as a man plays his cheerful dirge and a lost dog poster sends a telegram to the breeze […]