Bluejay
You look at the blue jay with
admiration as he pokes the hazelnut
with his strong beak
and cracks it open
you wish you could hop from the branch
to branch and poke at hard
hazelnuts like he does
you wished you could mimic his song
when he calls his mate
which jumps on the dry tree limb
and before the branch breaks
it flies away undisturbed
you wouldn’t mind changing
places with the blue jay
to let him come into your house
and dust the furniture
to let him clean up the dirty dishes
and after showering let him place
a fluffy white towel on his head
to cover its colourful crest
you wouldn’t mind if it mimicked you
standing before the mirror
and when it discovered
that it gained some weight
to run back to its habit
of eating just hazelnuts

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

Dawn

when the sky sang
newborn chick
just out of the uterus
of the ineffable
when you opened your eyes
and smiled
that for hours I was gazing your face
which shone in the sunlight
and you said
so beautiful
when you look at me that way
and this was the answer
and the question
when I surrendered
to the gleam of your eyes

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1771713208

Interruption

We interrupt the labor of the gods,
we, the rushed and inexperienced beings of the moment.
In the palaces of Eleusis and Phthia
Demeter and Thetis begin good works
amid great fires and thick smoke. But
Metaneira always charges from the quarters
of the king, terrified, her hair undone,
and the fearful Peleus always interferes.

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

Excerpt

Doc Gillespie
Great Falls, Montana

It had been two very long days since Joel had been thrown from
the big buckskin gelding and his ankle wasn’t feeling any
better. Maybe it was getting worse. He had spent most of yesterday
hopelessly hobbling around the house. Not being able to ride
was driving him nuts. Or maybe he was nuts already and not
being able to ride was making him nuttier. It was now ridiculous
and even impossible to think that he could ride. Harry had eventually
come to the house at noon yesterday to make sure that Joel
was okay. Hobbling over to the screen door, Joel explained the
events of his wild ride on the buckskin to Harry. Without as
much as one word of a reply, the old man simply shook his head
and made his way back to the barn.
For Joel, it was a good thing that it was his left ankle that was
injured; at least he could still use his right foot on the gas pedal.
And that is what he was doing this morning. Joel was approaching
the outskirts of Great Falls in search of some medical attention
that could hopefully accelerate the healing process. The
severe pain was nearly killing him and he had to get out of the
house before he started drinking.
The sign above the medical clinic in the strip mall on the outskirts
of town proclaimed, “Dr. Michael Gillespie. Walk-ins Welcome.”
The receptionist was unlocking and opening the front
door of the clinic as he pulled into the nearly empty parking lot.
Hobbling into the clinic, he approached the front desk and asked
to see the doctor.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0980897955

Sin
Brazen thief
that leads my mind
to an erotic voyage and
your nipple
ready to jump
over your bra and
standing with no skirt
before the mirror
you accentuate your eyes
upright virgin thought
my paradisiacal inferno
that I long to sing
with such fervour

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763750

And Once More About Love
Of the sun’s blinking
this summer night
when chilling shadows entwine together
over Hargita the sky spreads out
in quietness to make love in
a mellow myth
the stars, insomniacs thatblink
like tiny animals
my fingers gallop
on your pulsing neck
I avoid your fragile bones
and linger at the camp
of your innocence
in your closed eyelids
dreams squeeze
kiss my sad face
to heal
this body that
clings to yours
this hand that
draws you
this is not me –
keep on dreaming about me!

 Egon Schiele, 1890 – 1918

LIKE A BOAT ON A LAKE . . .

THE AFTERNOON slowly passed by
like a boat on a lake of still waters,
on your chest the violets trembled
caressed by a burning breath.

There I murmured to you, near the fountain,

in the park that keeps secret yearnings,

“I am like the miner who respectfully longs
for the veins of your tender affection . . .”

And the peace of the branches was disrupted,
and when you so softly said, “I adore you!”
a fluttering of wings was heard over the gold

of your timid and fervent head,
that anchored that evening, and the night
suddenly stretched out its unfurled wing.

Xavier Villaurrutia, Mexico, 1903 ─ 1050

ΒΑΡΚΑ ΣΤΗ ΛΙΜΝΗ

Ήρεμα πέρασε τ’ απόγευμα

σαν βάρκα σε λίμνης τ’ ακίνητα νερά

βιολέτες έκαιγαν στο στήθος σου

χαϊδεμένο απ’ την καυτή ανάσα

Τότε σου ψιθύρισα, δίπλα στο συντριβάνι

στο πάρκο που φυλάσει τις μυστικές επιθυμίες,

είμαι σαν μιναδόρος που πεθυμά

τη φλέβα της τρυφερής σου αγάπης

Κι η ηρεμία των κλαδιών ταράχτηκε

κι όταν μουρμούρισες το «σε λατρεύω»

πέταγμα φτερών ακούστηκε πάνω απ’τη χρυσή,

δειλή και κι ολόφλογη σου κεφαλή

που έδεσε το δείλι, κι η νύχτα ξαφνικά

ξεδίπλωσε την διπλωμένη της φτερούγα

Μετάφραση Μανώλη Αλυγιζάκη//Translated by Manolis Aligizakis Xavier Villaurrutia, Mexico, 1903 ─ 1950

The Mood of a Day
We plainly saw that not a soul lived in that fated vessel!
•
EDGAR ALLAN POE
The mood of a day we lived ten years ago in a foreign
land
the ether of an ancient moment that grew wings and flew
away like the Lord’s angel
the voice of a woman forgotten with so much prudence
and so much pain
an inconsolable end, a September setting made
of marble.
New houses dusty clinics eruptive windows
coffin maker’s shops…
Has anyone thought of what the sensitive drug store owner endures
on duty all night long?
The room is in a mesh: drawers windows doors with
gaping mouths like wild animals
a pissed off man reads the cards, searches, reads the stars,
seeks.
He worries: if they knock at the door who will open it?
If he opens a book whom is he to look at? If he opens
his soul who will look? Chain
Where is love that with a single stroke cuts time in two
and dumbs it?
Only words and gestures. An unvarying monologue
before a mirror under a wrinkle
The boredom spreads like an ink mark on a handkerchief
They all died in the ship, but the ship follows the route
it started from the harbor.
How the captain’s nails grew…and the boatswain who had
three girlfriends in every port unshaven.
The sea swells slowly, the riggings fill with pride and
the day becomes mild.
Three dolphins appearing black, shine, the mermaid smiles
and a forgotten seaman riding the yardarm waves.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096TTS37J

Excerpt

Chapter Six
With Christmas only three weeks away, every student nurse at the
Holy Cross waited impatiently to find out what hours she would be
working over the holidays. A few would have enough days off to go
home, even if they lived some distance away. Others would be on
duty throughout the season.
Tyne hoped for three days off to make it worthwhile to take the bus
home to Emblem. Morley had offered to come to Calgary to get her,
but she did not think he should leave his farm and the livestock. His
father had not been well, and Morley had more than enough to do
with his own farm and his daily trips to look after his parents’ place.
Tyne had not been home for Christmas since beginning her nurses’
training. In many ways she did not mind. She counted it a blessing
to be able to make the day as pleasant as possible for her patients
although at times she found it heartrending, especially on the children’s
ward. But the Christmas she had spent on Maternity was one
she would never forget. The joy of the new mothers made her own
heart joyful, and in each little occupant of the nursery she saw the
baby Jesus.
Even if she could not get home to Emblem, Tyne would have a
Christmas dinner. Moe’s parents were coming from Lethbridge to
spend the holidays with Moe’s older, married sister. The sister had
promised to plan her dinner around whatever hours the two nurses
were off duty, providing they worked the same shift.
Tyne was surprised not to have received an invitation from the
Shaughnessys as she had for the previous two years. They had not
invited her or Moe to their home since Carol Ann left the hospital

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763068

Excerpt

Chapter IV
Eteo’s eyes were fixed on two small perch feeding on the barnacles
around a dock pile. The water was so clear he could see them biting
the barnacles and twisting their bodies to pull off the prey. Nature
and its wonders, Eteo thought, smiling in appreciation. Then he felt
the vibration of the phone in his pocket.
“Hello, Eteo.” Susan’s voice made him feel warm and eager.
“How’s my sweet Susan?”
“I’m good, and you?”
“Excellent. See you later tonight?”
“Yes, come by the house around seven.”
“Sending you a sweet kiss until later”
“Back at you the same way.” Susan’s voice sounded as melodic as
ever, and Eteo wished he was with her at this moment to give her that
kiss in real.
After taking care of dinner for the boys, Eteo dressed carefully
and drove to the east side of Burnaby where Susan lived. She opened
the door and hugged him when he stepped inside. Their lips locked
in a long kiss. He admired her smiling face and exquisite makeup.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WP3LMPX