Monday, November 21, 2016

Two Octets from a Saturday

november saturday octet


drizzle’s message tapping a windbreaker hood:
terse unbroken light & shadow describing

a wrist tattoo of the character for rain
to accentuate a 40-year-old scar—

on a wire over pink roses shriveling,
crow shakes its wings once, croaks & trills that leafless

white birch splitting the pavement, your tattoo's ink,
oncoming light rail train's relentless pealing




◦    ◦    ◦


albina ave octet #3


insect hatch flickers near the rhododendron:
reflection of light rain’s glint around the spurge—

wrought iron balcony watched by two plastic
owls —under the taco truck’s lime-green

canopy a red-checked tablecloth shimmers,
arm chairs have their existence, minus people—

the bus exhales, reaches Blandena shelter;
pick-up surges through the stop sign: life goes on


Jack Hayes
© 2016



11/5/16

2 comments:

  1. Drizzle's message tapping... puts me in mind of 4'33" (which these short poems so often do, in a good way).

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Dominic! As I understand it Cage was thinking about Zen when he conceived 4'33", so there is some connection in the inspiration. I'm also trying to keep in mind Bachelard's dictum: "Il faut être présent, présent à l'image dans la minute de l'image"

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