Long-listed for the 2023 Griffin Poetry Awards

2023 Longlist Announcement

Faces furrowed by time and sickness

faces cracked by hunger and the work related accidents

faces swollen, dirty, hairy,

faces stretched by the pliers of an unnatural smile

big faces like mothers’ breasts

tough faces like anvils.

A woman uncovers her breast to feed a yellow baby

the wind mixes the clouds

clouds mix with the flags

death, wearing a general’s mask, inspects the world

women cry as they wash their black cloths

people cry in the front steps of houses, at the corners,

             in the fields

they cry in the trenches, hospitals, outside

             the unemployment offices

tears, tears

our eyes will survive beyond our death

in order to cry

it blows

The wind mixes the voices, years, electric cables,

the teeth of the tobacco factory worker with the bayonets

it can’t tell apart the minister from the black dog

it mixes the breast of the nursing woman with

the dome of the neighborhood church

it blows

The window panes of the big cities are foggy, dirtied

             by our bad breaths

as we bury our dead with their mouths opened

they’re hungry

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763564

The Ides of March
Beware of grandeur, oh soul.
And if you can not overcome your ambitions,
pursue them with hesitant precaution.
And the more you go forward, the more
inquiring and careful you must be.
And when you reach your zenith, as a Caesar at last;
when you take on the role of such a famous man,
then most of all be careful when you go out on the street,
like any famous master with your entourage,
if by chance some Artemidoros approaches
out of the crowd, bringing you a letter,
and says in a hurry “Read this at once,
these are serious matters that concern you,”
don’t fail to stop; don’t fail to postpone
every speech or task; don’t fail to turn away
the various people who greet you and bow to you
(you can see them later); let even the Senate wait,
for you must consider at once
the serious writings of Artemidoros.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1723961833

Idol
Between your eyes
the idol in the mirror
stares at you
words float
as if above a boiling pot
in shapes of dreams
brimming steam
adds your love
for the outcast
your emotional battle
between blackness
and nabobism
that breaks your heart
fingers feel the cold glass
balancing your heart’s jest
with the meaning of the unfathomable

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1771715987