I skipped coffee yesterday. That was a mistake. September 15, 2021 . A Song on the Stove I made some good coffee this morning. The taste varies, you know. I use an old pot. It’s the one my parents used back in the day. No special science, simply a perking paradise of memory and aroma. We’d go camping in the mountains and the pot would go with us. Or company […]
Smoke. But we have windows. Through and between smudges and spots, we view a tiny part of the world. Mystery. But we have knowledge. Through and between fear and belief, we view a tiny part of ourselves. September 8, 2021 . Tell Me If you cannot see the beauty, in your beard, in your body, in the brevity, abundance, or absence, of your own tender breasts; the down, or the […]
The metronome atop my piano teacher’s shiny black grand — naturally I thought of it as having a life of its own. September 6, 2021 . The Way You Look At Me Your little craft, on a boundless sea; the sea, itself, so small, as to be a leaf, or breath, between two stars, suspended, by the motion, in between; the motion, a song; the song, as vague as clear […]
From the beginning, one by one, these pages proclaim, We are karma. Before dawn, a sliver moon, the rest of its shadow clearly visible. This morning’s sunflower visitors: chickadees, nuthatches, scrub jays, squirrels — all talkative, reveling in what they have found, telling all the world. Thrice exalted: first by your kind presence; then by my short fast; and finally in answering the call of my hunger. September 5, 2021 […]
Reading old dreams — as if the mind, upon entering, were a cave. September 4, 2021 . Memorial My day began in the middle of the night when, after emerging from a tall building that consisted only of stairs, landings, windows, and walls, I met a friend in an open grassy area that might have been a cemetery had there been any graves. The friend, a poet with whom I […]
I didn’t learn to type in school. With the help of a book from the public library, I taught myself when I was in my early thirties. Prior to that, I used the time-honored hunt-and-peck system. I’m a fair typist, not a good one. I can type these lines without looking at the keys. But if I need to incorporate numbers, I have to look down. Once many years ago, […]
the house sleeps better / during cricket time — and then / a breeze stirs the vine August 29, 2021 . Night Walk In my absent presence, a cricket singing here, here, here, as if the way were clear, clear, clear. Recently Banned Literature, October 28, 2017 . [ 1213 ]
Because they are friends summer leaves the door open and night wanders in Recently Banned Literature, May 29, 2008 . [ 1212 ]
Whichever speaks first, who is it listens,as mind and tongue converse? who is it acts,who is it suffers, this strange-sane triumphof words? whichever speaks first,who is it fathoms, the pain,the joy, the curse? “Who Is It Listens”Recently Banned Literature, October 6, 2014 Canvas 441 October 5, 2014 . [ 1211 ]
Forests, oceans, and wars on a spherehung in space. Symphonies and bridges. Stars,like moths to a flame. Or is ityour face? “Or Is It”Recently Banned Literature, September 14, 2014 Canvas 433 September 22, 2014 . [ 1209 ]
William Michaelian 