“The Color of Jazz” in Mike Bitzenhofer’s Flickr stream.
Licensed via the Creative Commons.
Like a Girl Saying Yes
Sebastian Matthews
‘like a girl saying yes’
is the way Condon
put it
hearing Bix’s coronet
for the first time
a mellow tone
lofted gently from the bell
of the horn
like a girl saying yes
or as Louis said
followed (no doubt)
by his cackle laugh
“I’m tellin’ you
those pretty notes
went [...]

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In Harvest
by Sophie Jewett
Mown meadows skirt the standing wheat;
I linger, for the hay is sweet,
New-cut and curing in the sun.
Like furrows, straight, the windrows run,
Fallen, gallant ranks that tossed and bent
When, yesterday, the west wind went
A-rioting through grass and grain.
To-day no least breath stirs the plain;
Only the hot air, quivering, yields
Illusive motion to the fields
Where [...]

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“Sudden Storm” in Tochis’ Flickr stream.  Licensed via the Creative Commons.

Startled by Summer
Wind Lin
The klaxon warns of the first typhoon,
and I think
how last night’s booming
thunder was already too late for spring.
The fog outside the shutter
no longer hurries us into jackets
and we suddenly discover
it’s ok to go out in short sleeves.
However,
the one thing I can’t remember:
this [...]

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Tell Me a Story
Robert Penn Warren
[ A ]
Long ago, in Kentucky, I, a boy, stood
By a dirt road, in first dark, and heard
The great geese hoot northward.
I could not see them, there being no moon
And the stars sparse.  I heard them.
I did not know what was happening in my heart.
It was the season before the [...]

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“239/365 fry up” from Hannah  Webster’s Flickr stream.
Licensed via the Creative Commons.

Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey
by Hayden Carruth
Scrambled eggs and whiskey
in the false-dawn light. Chicago,
a sweet town, bleak, God knows,
but sweet. Sometimes. And
weren’t we fine tonight?
When Hank set up that limping
treble roll behind me
my horn just growled and I
thought my heart would burst.
And Brad M. [...]

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To My Mother
by Wendell Berry
I was your rebellious son,
do you remember? Sometimes
I wonder if you do remember,
so complete has your forgiveness been.
So complete has your forgiveness been
I wonder sometimes if it did not
precede my wrong, and I erred,
safe found, within your love,
prepared ahead of me, the way home,
or my bed at night, so that almost
I [...]

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Untitled in Hamed Saber’s Flickr stream.
Licensed via the Creative Commons.

The History of Now
David SmithWhite
The recording of culture is history;
but our culture is more than that.
It’s the world of human action,
and the myths we make of the fact.
The recording of history is culture,
but our history is more than that.
It informs a hidden agenda.
Unconscious of motive [...]

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“Newspaper Boat” in Marcel Germain’s Flickr Stream.
Licensed via the Creative Commons.

To Make a Dadist Poem
Tristan Tzara
Take a newspaper.
Take some scissors.
Choose from this paper an article the length you want to make your poem.
Cut out the article.
Next carefully cut out each of the words that make up this article and put them all in a bag.
Shake [...]

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“Amy’s 5th gr report card” in Stan McCoy’s Flickr Stream
Licensed via the Creative Commons.
Gee, You’re So Beautiful That It’s Starting to Rain
Richard Brautigan
Oh, Marcia,
I want your long blonde beauty
to be taught in high school,
so kids will learn that God
lives like music in the skin
and sounds like a sunshine harpsichord.
I want high school report cards
to look [...]

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Late February
Gail Mazur
Late February, and the air’s so balmy
snowdrops and crocuses might be fooled
into early blooming. Then, the inevitable blizzard
will come, blighting our harbingers of spring,
and the numbed yards will go back undercover.
In Florida, it’s strawberry season?
shortcake, waffles, berries and cream
will be penciled on the coffeeshop menus.
Available online via Opossumsal Homestead

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