Poetry

My uncle had a birthmark a liver colored flame on his face. Who knows where that came from. I remember one photograph from 40’s Hollywood, my uncle Leo Carillo and a woman who was not my aunt for long and who was not the English Duchess my uncle could have married during the war. The…

(for Jane) “I fly to my dreams from my bed at night” sauntered Jane/ through a conversation.      I the wind,      the scarf of a trailing sky      swoop on the figure appearing      as a calander wearing its months      back to front, while the weeks dropped out      with the days listening to the song      that the birds…

Just as I was about to call your name The phone rang And since I was alone I knew it must At last be you I thought: the times are trying to change us Into trees in the valley of the shadow of joy But all the blessings which flow from memories of you Seem…

Random frames from the flow of time Are dealt like hands of solitaire Or perhaps a fortune being told. An unknown woman in Victorian dress Is sitting, back-turned by a lake, Blond hair across her shoulder; A cat drinks water from a tap. The smiling faces of strangers and friends Arrange themselves in no strict…

I In learning a foreign language Leave a red mark by each word You look up in the dictionary When you look up a word And find a red mark by it Cut off one joint of your finger With the dullest possible knife II In mathematics try to remember That the answer is always…

Nous five-o’clockerons àminuit. “Will you have aspirin in your ink?” “Thank you. I prefer it black.” I bled a little into the milk to give it a character of my own. “I see you have a character of your own.” “I like the taste of my own overripe fruit.” We were silent while he sipped…