Rubies

In August,
chrome electricity
measures
Tennessee rubies.

Caramel asylum
chrome fiction
measures
rubies' condensation.

Silver eyelid
reticence petrifies
asylum
caramel electricity.

Elsewhere ghostlike
rubies illustrate
Tennessee
eyelid chrome.

Paris' sprawled
portrait drapes
caramel
rubies' romance.

Honeycombed veneers'
fabric sails
ghostlike
skyline asylum.

Oh! Blithe, Enveloping Treasure

An horizonless ocean
blending into the sky
weaves, without a loom,
a mandala tapestry
as I sing Om to streaky
cotton candy clouds
languidly caressing
my beloved’s cheeks.

Conch shell trumpeters
blare out a fanfare
for a regal procession –
every drop of my blood
marches, like an army
of idolaters, an impassioned
adoration procession for her
elegance, my song of the heavens,
oh, blithe enveloping treasure!

My eyes bleed prayers…
and the answers arise –
the cold breeds the sun
as the wind hatches chimes,
the rain washes lovers
enraptured by the moment,
bulbs release tulip petals
from Hades grasp, and sighs
catch in breathless gasps.

A wild mare gallops
in the soft, impossible
night, whispering secrets
to her spring stallion.

Klimt’s painted kiss
adorns only the lips
of his sleeping Danae,
whose fiery red hair
drapes over the shoulders
of the treasure I caress
with my every heartbeat,
and the fire of your spirit
ignites my life’s passion.

In the hearth of your smile
will my eyes always reside,
and the song of tomorrow
sings in tonight’s whispers.

Flinging away all cares
I escape into the instant
And dwell there eternally.

Pound Said; I Said

Pound said:

ALBA

As cool as the pale wet leaves
of lily-of-the-valley
She lay beside me in the dawn.


I said:

MIG ÄLSKLING

Even without
money, I will always be
a wealthy man. My fortune:
all the memories
a lifetime can hold.
In the phosphorous moonlight,
Artemis supplants Selene
radiating the nights of Aquarius -
and the sea
washes to my shoreline
the most precious sea shells:
my unsurpassable fortune
will always be knowing you.


Pound said:

ALBA

from "Langue d'Oc"

When the nightengale to his mate
Sings day-long and night late
My love and I keep state
In bower,
In flower,
'Till the watchman on the tower
Cry:
"Up! Thou rascal, Rise,
I see the white
Light
And the night
Flies."


I said:

MIG ÄLSKLING

When the wild spirit of Pan
Plays his pipes in sacred élan,
My heart whispers beyond land's span-
A silent melody,
Of epic rhapsody,
In impassioned psalmody,
Wailing.
"Wild blood coursing
Through my heart
Impart!
Beyond all art
Delight!"

And the Constellations Winked Approval

Come
with me to the summit,
to the mountain peak.
View
the diffused sienna blaze engulfing
aspens quaking across a dozing valley.
Hear
violins weep at Beethoven’s command
as the shadowy fingers of dusk
clutch the landscape hushed
by the impressions of Van Gogh’s brush.
Breathe
in the rich, winter fragrance of pine
needles wafting on a gentle zephyr
the way a sonata’s legato movement
liltingly surrounds lovers in the night.
Taste
the dry, Serein River bite in a glass
of unblushing Chablis as it washes
the heart’s impassioned palate
with the honey of skittish enigma.
Feel
strong arms swallow you
in a protective and nurturing embrace,
warding off the cold, buffeting winds
that blanket the frozen, steppe wasteland.

I awaken
to an imagined spring
voice heavily accented.
She speaks
in the languages of every nation.
She leads
me into Paradise like Beatrice led Dante.
She whispers
to me in my dreams like Alba to Pound
as they lay together in the pre-dawn
dew anticipating first light.
She haunts
me from the four corners of the Earth
as Gongyla did Sappho through absence.
She leaves
the same longing within my soul
that Sappho felt for Anactoria and Atthis.

I would brave
the tribulations of Heracles
to witness one of her smiles,
gracing her countenance, to gaze upon me.

I would have walked
across the globe with Alexander,
not to conquer lands, accumulate booty
and subject people to the Great’s rule;
simply to hold her in my arms
in the moonlight, to feel her body
breathing against mine as my heart
would pound against hers,
and to kiss the rosy blush of her lips
between the gasped gaps of her radiance.

And the constellations winked approval.

Silvery Light Shrouds

Silvery light shrouds her with a brilliant
Halo, she stands at midnight’s threshold –

A hesitation between breaths, and concentric
Ripples across the celestial sea spiral
From the edge of eternity to the limitless
Instant: inevitability’s expectant moment.

Sculpted porcelain, crafted from chalcedony,
Reflects her radiance, glimmering ablaze
With the boundless passion emanating from every
Unique brushstroke swept across masters’ canvases.

Cosmic superstrings tune themselves
To the chords she strums, and universes
Sing into being as her melody composes
Chance’s recollection: sweet, divine music.

She calls sublime poetry to flake down upon
Bards and poets like the softest crystal powder
Fluttering out in a fine blanket; her songs
Inspire imagination, aspiration and anticipation.

My heartbeat pounds at her door!

My pulse whispers her name…

The rushing wind
Bellows glee in a tempest.

Fervor fathoms rapturous depths.

The sashayed path she treads
Opens upon the gates of exhilaration,
There would I dare to follow.

siren of electric airwaves

siren of electric airwaves
healer of the deformed infirm
butterfly on a mid-spring morn
weaver of all safety nets

under crystal skies
you open gateways
for lost souls
on the road to Elysium

angel muse
silent whisperer
clothed in brilliant starshine
revealer of the harvest

daughter of the gods
you coax ancient secrets
from flaming pyres
burning eternally

siren of electric airwaves
lead me to your island's shores
dream me into a constellation
or the sand between your toes

Bizarre, They Seem

Exploding stars must produce;

when the period hits -

a blur to the human eye!

Bizarre, they seem.

Color appears like reversed

grounds, preliminary exhibitions'

relatively easy solutions:

challenge relativity's interspersing effect.

Combining and interlacing fingers'

especially ambitious details,

dialog archived collections

and proceed to small cloisters.

Rhythm, Atmosphere or Mood

Planet lands an astronaut

in shifts of dominance,

consequent occurrence

makes energy carrying

particles escape the solar

center in tempo:

rhythm, atmosphere or mood.

The severe problem

consisting in earth and rocks'

observational selection

appears uniformly blue

independent of surface

color: nature loves the small.

Rotation to the rescue!

Juxtaposition restricted.

Young, old, major,

minor, pulsar, nebulae,

radiation, vacuosity.

Without absorptions,

the normal result and

most decisive difference,

set up to record hot flashes.

Consequent Recurrence

Flatter the public taste

flatter than sentimental waste.

Distinguish the lighter and darker

and extinguish the flatulent marker.

Discriminate color intensity

by uttering a garbled obscenity.

Consequent recurrence of placement

reveals the irrelevance of government.

Compare the coffee in a cup

with the tail of a wagging pup.

Apples, cherries and tomatoes are red

but chapter 20 is best read in bed.

Remain unchanged in hue and light

because, man, dig it, like, it's outtasite.

Non-Observable

Reason, having a direct

remainder with respect

to the subject, molasses,

illustrates indefinite

non-observable signs.

The barometer reads

value uncertainty

drawn by measuring

applied voltage.

First case destinations

formulated a mark

of causality, counter

to pre-vision intuition -

definition's revision:

uncertain incision.

The simplest cannibal

obtained repeated

calculations of models

beside the cartels

of dimensional brothels.

Points in time

drift

in variable response.

Where there is fire, kitchen

qualitatively prevails smoke.

Non-observable counter examples

understand product resistance.

An unbiased variance

squared the correct entry

relating to something else

with short, false repetitions.

concentrations, not empty

an existing sign existentially

calibrates using known

concentrations, not empty

of impermanence assuming

the equation applies

to phenomena - although florescent,

straightforward slope product,

being a verb, contains

knowledge; data, applied

to the least, squares incontrovertibly

with respect to meaning -

systematic and systemic error.

three possibilities

uncompounded space

in accordance

with dissimilar

class of sound

three possibilities

only if one

considers two

in relation to words

between being

and membership

necessarily

whatever perversion

comments behind

reasoning phenomena.

He Yearns

He yearns to hear her breathe in her sleep,
and gaze upon her timeless and serene features.

He yearns to nuzzle the delicate lily radiating
from her soul during the moments that well up
in the heart during quiet, hesitating intervals.

He yearns to sip wine from her lips at midnight
under the full moon, while her cheeks and neck
blush from the adoration of unrestrained longing.

He yearns to embrace the scent of her perfume
as it wraps him in the blanket of her allure.

He yearns to wander through unfenced ranges
with her on spirited steeds, unfettered by convention.

He yearns to shudder from the grace of her
finger as it grazes over his shivering flesh.

He yearns to glimpse her expressions
as she sketches a kitten and a ball of yarn.

He yearns to know what it feels like
for their hearts to beat in the same rhythm.

He’s afraid that unrequited yearning
will only drive her out of his dreams.

Ekphrasis Exercise

"Poetry and painting (or any visual art) have long been considered to be 'sister' arts, each in their own way offering a similar means to re-envision or re-experience the world. Moreover, poets and painters have long served as sources of mutual inspiration; a poet in search of 'images' can find an almost limitless supply within the vivid, concrete and evocative 'language(s)' of painting." - Steve Salmoni.

I am going to provide a few examples of Ekphrasis from my own attempts at interpreting the visual artistry of painters in my own poetry.

Paris through the Window, Marc Chagall

Paris through the Window

An open-mouthed, human-faced feline
sits, perched on a ledge in the city of lights,
gazing, aghast at the developing scene
which a two-faced man - half full of the blues
offering an unclaimed heart in his hand
to no one in particular, half looking away,
smiling past the borderland of existence -
fails to notice. Rising from the bodies
of a well dressed couple (every man and all woman)
laying limp and lifeless, the Eiffel Tower
glints and gleams in the illumination
of bright and colorful searchlights, a stoic and
staid edifice of emotionless steel. Unflinching,
a man parachutes down to lifeless humanity.
An empty chair reposes at the table next
to the double-faced Parisian Janus, who guards
the open, glass-paned, sliding doorwindow,
permitting an invisible breeze to refresh
the flower arrangement adorning
the empty table of the man’s solitary blues.

The Birthday, Marc Chagall

The Birthday

A tapestry on the wall of moments,
near a bed, empty in its non-union,
colors the drab plaster of existence
with whimsy, a woman’s tiptoes
strain as she reaches for a contorted
body of her ghost-man bending over
backwards, his pallid lips meet her
rosy kiss by the open window, paned
overlook onto the city, as the universal
clock points out the instant, surprise
shines through her open eyes, his dead
gaze through closed eyes blinds him
to her, and he armlessly offers an empty
embrace as a bouquet in her hands thirsts
for the limbs which blossomed them.


Composition #7, Walter Kandinsky

Composition #7

shout run lightning scream fast blown
technicolor yawn crystalline cloud shards
fragment alluring anniversary helmets
arrowhead rocking chair filtered warble smear
canoe sunnyside up sprocket wheeled wheedle
hurled curls reflection wild cityscape slab
madness cacophony nightmare seasonless
hurricane rainbow lamp strawhat duck sled
potpourri insect disjointed connection furious
fractured slithering inverted freeform dove.


The Old Guitarist, Pablo Picasso

The Old Guitarist

The crumpled figure of aging poverty –
an old man seen through the tint
of bluesy tones, his clothing tattered
and torn, a holy adornment – on a cross-legged
cement sidewalk, leans against the wall
eyes closed to the silent, desolate and absent
audience surrounding him - and he strums
and sings of the destitution in the stark
and barren landscape of his unfulfilled
dreams, the under-appreciation of his soul.

The Queen of Atlantis

Come with me through
the mirror into which I peer,
a reflection of the past revealing
the future, to the legend
which spawned all legends
and reveals the dream of all dreams,
to fair Atlantis, and be the queen

of tomorrow as you radiate the light
from the Lady of all ladies,
the light of the Queen of Atlantis.

Clouds drift beyond the horizon
carrying harmonized chorales
who cry to the ancient oceans;
Sewn silver seeds wait to sprout
from the plowed rows. Cover
them over with the finest
Chinese silk, woven by Empress
Lei Zu from the most delicate
mulberry silkworm cocoons.
The parting clouds reveal
Luna’s countenance as
the seeds germinate
into the sublime hopes
of antediluvian prophesies.

Plato never foresaw
a utopia of nowhere
quite so somewhere.

When one heart whispers
to another, the seas freeze still
in abeyance, the winds caress
the words, lightning brilliantly
illuminates the thunderless
pulse, all swords rust
into dust, ploughshares
carve harvests out of deserts,
and the one certain truth
in the universe echoes
from the highest Himalayan
peak: a rose without thorns.

Venga conmigo
a través del espejo que observo
el reflejo del pasado,
que revela el futuro,
a la leyenda que dio lugar
a todas leyendas,
y que revela
el sueño de todos los sueños,
a la serena Atlántida,
y sea la reina de la mañana,
mientras que irradiando la luz
de la Dama
de todas las damas,
la luz de la Reina de Atlántida.