Poems written by me.
A Ray Upon the Eye
it was impossible to work
when day broke
you would have been mine
had I perhaps said:
lie down, listen–
night after night
the world’s a dreadful echo
of folk traditions
in the walls of old houses
tapping
///
Erasure Poem made from Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” One poem per page from The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Barnes & Noble, 2004)
Disease Sharpened in Hell
you entered my brain
love never wronged me
for I had no desire
a vulture fell upon me
take nothing with caution
I was never old
closed, closed, you laughed
so wise to conceal light
///
This is an erasure poem made from Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” I’m doing one per page from the 5 pages that comprise the story in the 2004 Barnes & Noble edition of The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. The idea was inspired by Dave Bonta’s erasure series based on Pepys’ Diary, and after doing one of my own from Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” I wanted to go a little deeper into Poe and erasure. I took the titles from the text and allowed myself to use some of the editorial footnotes.
I pull a rake against dry oak leaves
the wind gusts and twirls
an invisible rope
coiling through the cooling air
sunset and shadows cover the ground
I can no longer tell leaves from grass
the purpling sky is a fading sea
tugging the live oaks against gravity
mockingbirds call and chirp
I don’t know what they’re saying
but I believe them
Driftwood
For days unmentioned
I dreamt the speaking guitar.
Darkness poured forth
the physical radiation
of solemn hours,
the wild air, the last waltz,
the compass of words,
the utter simplicity
of attention.
–Erasure poem made from Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”
///
This is inspired by Dave Bonta’s erasure project based on Pepys’ Diary. He’s been at it for a while coming up with some interesting stuff, and so I figured I’d give it a go after rereading his post about his working method. I grabbed a Poe collection that was nearby, flipped to a page from “Usher,” made a copy and started working. I used a highlighter to find the words, typed the poem, played with line breaks, cut some things out and then crossed out everything that wasn’t used.
Later I tried this with one of my creative writing classes, and they really enjoyed it. It was the kind of thing that inspired a lot of gripes, complaints, and this is too hards, but by the end of the period most of them were surprised to have enjoyed it and more importantly surprised by what they found lurking in the pages of their books.
For my part, I enjoyed working within the rules and how it pulled me a bit away from my own head, words and thoughts. This might get addictive. Stay tuned.
Pilgrims lost their way and wept, hearts broken
at the plundered tomb of their slain goddess.
Forests withered; deserts grew. Clouds stood still
for summons from a silent rain goddess.
Did you tremble before rocket engines
that ended your long lunar reign, goddess?
The old arthritic masters paint you vain,
so I near missed you dressed so plain, goddess.
Myths tell of deities for all things of
sky and sea. Come fly, oh airplane goddess.
Gasoline, butane, ethylene, your names
burn bright, oh my fiery propane goddess.
I’ll sing the verse, the chorus, chant. I’ll keep
the lonely beat for your refrain, goddess.
—
Another goddess poem that kind of references this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one. I wonder if the other two goddesses will get their own poems some day.
I first posted the couplets on Twitter. I’ve been doing that with some of my old ghazals too and seeing how (or if) they work as tweets.
sunset
orange reflection
in eastern trees
three ducks
wing down to the pond
north wind
bright Jupiter
winter stars emerge
sandals & shorts
screech owl
slitted eyes watching
from the tree
stinky kiss
phoebe licks my face
behind a cirrus scrim
the dog star
drifts up the night