Wednesday, February 16, 2011

February Moonsong

the moon turning round from white to
white in morning’s sky where mercy appeared
irrelevant, the cottonwood’s naked black

February limbs reached for that sky that after-
noon—a Union Pacific graffiti-tagged freight
train surging beside a black & blue river the

rain pinging the gray tin roof that evening, the
season’s first rain as if metaphorical tears could wash this a-
way—moonset along the mesa in nimbus

overcast & bitterbrush—a heart tattooed &
straining—a freight train inside the tunnel—a mild
edema, a waxing moon holding water, a white

rope hammock in graying snow between the
cottonwood & the locust—the unin-
habited house trailer atop the bluff where trees

did not take root, the rusted drag harrow
cast off in a sky gray snowdrift—gibbous moon
in an afternoon sky weighed down with

power lines, expectation, a promise of ice the
damaged heartbeat the naked trees the train’s
graffiti as far as the eye can see


Jack Hayes
© 2011

My mid-February poetry spasm continues today with another new poem—& a reminder: if you're interested in reading the poetry from my most recent book, The Spring Ghazals you can either read them on the dedicated blog at the rate of two per week (Wednesday & Saturday), or purchase the book from one of these fine outlets:
Lulu
Amazon
Barnes & Noble (new—& a bargain at $11.40 US!)
Amazon UK (£7.94)

Both Amazon & Lulu have the book for $12 US. 

8 comments:

  1. Woah. You capture the root and beat of things here--very impressive.

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  2. Hi Caroline: Much thanks! In case you haven't seen my "@" tweet, this & the preceding one are the delayed fruits of my dream hangover. Maybe one more--fingers crossed!

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  3. One of the moods of winter with a quiet energy in it; I like the feeling that there are things quivering beneath the surface, and though they seem thwarted now, they haven't gone silent. Some favorite moments: "overcast & bitterbrush", "damaged heartbeat", "in the morning's sky where mercy appeared".

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  4. Hi HKatz: Thanks! Definitely a late winter landscape here. So glad you liked it.

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  5. Oh, this one's wonderful! It has such a great rhythm to it.

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  6. Hi Ginger: Thanks! Really glad you liked it!

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  7. I like this very much. The freight train travelling through the piece and the rhythms of the rain - the images of the moon are all wonderful.
    I was listening to today's music post at the same time and they actually go together really well.

    Kat

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  8. Hi Kat: Thanks! Now that's interesting to think of this poem with a Bossa Nova setting. Glad you liked it.

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