Patterson Gap Poetry
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Garden is the mirror of man
It wasn’t man that planted
garden
that sowed the
first fruits
that bid heaven
relinquish!
water this earth.
Was soul there in void
to whisper
most secret wants?
A stream, a flower
a twinkling star
a patterned heavens, a mystery
to give thought.
Read more »
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Body Reformed
Cloth I wrap
synthetically
a sluice of movement
and body-garbed
A slice of skin
cover
flapping in terrific
wind
Why not blow?
Read more »
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
The Second Fall
Daniel Warren's complaint:
Horizontally I seek
always at right-angle
to the force.
My work theorem always empty
and my direction
without choice.
If only vertical were my dimension,
to be in tune
with fleeting moments
of sheer height.
It was that robbed from me
with my fall from
paradise.
Read more »
Monday, September 27, 2021
For you I can write love
I think of Donne’s
romance and understanding,
of sonnets too, too real
Of the bliss in How do I love thee
but also the self guile.
I don’t write easily of love
somehow the embarrassment
sets my hand uneasy
upon the page.
So why do you stir in me
these attempts to create more
than I can achieve?
Read more »
Saturday, September 25, 2021
Bound Again
Your soul looks out from
behind your eyes
and would, I think,
leave that place
To meet me
between these worlds
and mingle here outside
of space.
And our spirits would soar
at moments of touch
like autumn leaves
in the wind
carrying the prayers of
deeply rooted trees
mingle and dance once
but not again.
Read more »
Friday, September 24, 2021
Love
You come to me and ask
the meaning
of this word.
How can I tell you?
How would I know?
I can drop you hints
point you in directions,
Wind you up with lessons taught me
watch you buckle and break
I never found the same meaning
twice,
In some way white had
become gray.
Never in my head was it clear
but just over there,
it was always that near.
Read more »
Thursday, September 23, 2021
Flood-tide
The flood-tide
of my soul
is more than universe
can contain
The pounding
heart of rhythm
drowns the sound
of star-rain
In universe
tonight there is
no vessel
that can stand
the strain
Yet you
hold my soul firmly
in your hand.
Read more »
Monday, September 20, 2021
The Bond
A couch of flowers
she offered
and there I stupidly lay
To see a man amply
satisfied
again with this offering
God stood amazed
But there’s an emptiness
of the flesh
that creates a potential
to conduct
a touch
entire and quick
to fill him enough
Read more »
Sunday, September 19, 2021
Virginia near the beach
Virginia near the beach
I pulled my love close
to me,
Her eyes never turned from
the horizon
at Norfolk near the sea.
How far to the horizon?
I asked my love
she said,
It’s forever to the horizon
forever and a day.
Read more »
Saturday, September 18, 2021
If my heart were an emptiness
If my heart were
a flame
flickering in the wind
Would you cup your hands
in protection
till I grew strong again?
If my heart were
a snowflake
caught in an early spring
Would you flee with me
northward
till I grew firm again?
Read more »
Friday, September 17, 2021
For a maid
There was a time
you held a world for me
secret and secluded
from mine
It drew me near
as if to explore
ancient ways
in new lands
Read more »
Thursday, September 16, 2021
I only mouth the words
Curling
on a chair
in soft afternoon light
from a window
She reclines at ease
with a
spring catalog
full of summer clothes.
Men tend to make
fantasy
reality, she says.
Read more »
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Sleep my child, peaceful sleep
What do I tell my child
of megatons, of megatons
What do I tell my child?
What do I tell my child
of fallout fears, fallout fears
What do I tell my child?
Sleep my child, peaceful sleep.
Read more »
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
The fleeting things
The fleeting things of
this world
are its beauty,
a flower, a sunny day
a shared moment
between friends
A young boy or girl
with little time
to be young
a late snow
in the early spring
Read more »
Monday, September 13, 2021
Natural Universe
You never want to go anywhere
seeing as how you hold
what foolish nonsense a dance be.
But this time you’re going, by God,
so put on your best;
You’ll ride up front with me.
Can’t you feel the excitement from
over the ridge?
Why it’s a county social
for the great Independence Day.
Don’t start groaning
'bout how silly people get at these.
Just keep quiet
if you’ve got nothing good to say.
Read more »
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Farther up the hill
A butterfly yesterday morning
crossed the snowy April fields,
I suppose he was chasing his fancy
farther up the hill.
But then he veered from flight,
wild flowers down by the brook
had called to him quietly,
to come take a look.
Read more »
Friday, September 10, 2021
The Naked Eye
“Father,” the boy said, “what is the quest
of man?”
“Why, nothing more than to see beyond
the naked eye my boy.”
They walked a time and a ways without
speaking.
Read more »
Thursday, September 9, 2021
To stay your smile
I miss the days that will never be
with you, here with me
I miss the laughs we would’ve shared
the lovers laugh
for no reason.
The future I miss more than
the past,
for the past will dim
but the future will always
be bright,
Held like a light just out of reach
never out of sight.
Read more »
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
... surely the people is grass
The voice said, Cry.
And he said, what shall I cry?
All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof
is as the flower of the field;
The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth;
because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon
it;
Read more »
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
The winnowy dust mote
Tired like the winnowy dust mote
I flote
'til down a swirl,
I whirl
Caught!
I thought,
Decision made
I lade plans
with more might
than most motes.
Read more »
Monday, September 6, 2021
Somewhere in this clay
Be quiet my soul
for there’s no one to hear
Your frustration I feel
pressing against my chest
and heart
Be careful there
you put too much strain
on my heart, my soul
be careful there.
Read more »
Sunday, September 5, 2021
To loose the marble spell
Gaze at the marble block
see the grain that marks the cut
The tools of the sculptor
are in the hands
Strike a bold plan.
The shape therein
a brief moment is seen
Only to be lost in the flurry
of creation
As the chisels ordered precision
wedge-shapes the pale virgin.
Read more »
Saturday, September 4, 2021
The Climax, is the Kill
African savannah
grassland
dark-skinned animal
the protein is in
the kill.
Stand and stalk
for the hunter walks
to sharpen his sight
on a new way of life.
Read more »
Friday, September 3, 2021
So Why So Many ... ?
The truth,
great poets teach,
is the one Golden Bough
So why plant so many words?
So why continue to plough?
So why continue the harvest,
if the truth is known to man?
That good is one way in this world,
and evil the other plan.
Read more »
Thursday, September 2, 2021
The Cutting
There was a flower cutting
over the sink
last morning
Drawing life
from careless spills.
From the wasted motions
of thoughtless strangers
As with a salve
its cut was healed.
Read more »
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
A Southern Smile
Chair, the room with
white walls
Come… sit down to fry.
My body balloons with
a fever
Mother somewhere, cries…
Read more »
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