Beat Dinner

I look down upon you, my city, Cluj, the scene of my romances.
Watching each and every passerby from the main square
to the station, seeking familiar faces in my mind, images’
recollection:
there, the street where a former love of mine once lived,
where I lived, too,
just to the right, and the smoke-filled pubs, and the station
where you always arrive, only to arrive anew.
I look down upon you, my city, Cluj, the scene of my romances.
The bunch of silent ones standing and waiting for some kind
of resolution, but in the end, they wander off to a downtown dive,
get drunk, kick some familiar sorrow
in the ass, and off they go.
I look down upon you, my city, Cluj, the scene of my romances.
The central park, where some girls were laid,
lingering till dawn, waiting for the breaking of the day
only to leave, aiming to stretch boredom to its limit at some exam,
then declaring that nothing matters in the expanding darkness,
listening to friends, taming some thought all the way home,
claiming there’s no beyond from this point.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763742

Still Waters

Excerpt

“No, he hasn’t mentioned it to me. Why? Do you think that’s why
your dad is here?”
She shook her head. It was a moment before she answered him.
“I had thought that, but now I don’t. I think I know why he’s here,
Cam. I believe our fathers are trying to set us up for more than a
drive home in the dark.”
Cam glanced at her quickly. “No kidding? I’m sorry, Tyne. Sorry to
embarrass you, that is.”
“I’m not embarrassed, I’m angry. How dare he meddle in my life?”
“Your dad must know you’re about to be engaged to a chap in
Emblem. Why would he try to set you up with me?”
Tyne took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. She wondered if
she should tell Cam the whole story, then decided she would lose
nothing by doing so. “My boyfriend … Morley … is Protestant. Dad
does not approve. In fact, he’s furious about it.”
In the dim interior of the car, she saw Cam nod. “And now,” he
said thoughtfully, “his old friend, Arthur Tournquist, who is Catholic,
calls to say he’s met Jeff ’s daughter. And in the course of the
conversation, Arthur happens to mention that his son is home from
medical school, and bingo! A bulb lights up in your dad’s brain.”
“Exactly.”
They reached the hospital grounds, and Cam drew up at the entrance
to the nurses’ residence. He shut off the motor and turned in
his seat to look at her. “Tyne, I’m sorry this has made you uncomfortable,
but don’t be angry with your dad. I’m sure he means well.
And my dad is as much to blame.”
She sighed and touched his hand where it lay on the seat between
them. “It’s okay, I’ll get over it. It was a lovely evening, and I really
enjoyed meeting your mother. Thanks for bringing me home, Cam.”
In the dim light she could see his sad smile. “Well, as we said the
other day, we may end up working in the same hospital sometime.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed.” He leaned over and kissed her gently on
the lips.
Tyne did not pull away. Instead, her right arm went up to encircle his
shoulders. Suddenly they embraced, clinging together for a moment,
their cheeks touching. Then she turned from him, opened the car door
and ran into the residence before he could move from his seat.

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

Savages and Beasts

Excerpt

“Yes, my twelve year old sister. She’s on the girls’ part of
the school.”
“Do you meet your sister sometimes?”
“No, we can’t.”
“But, you have, am I right?”
The boy raised his head and an imperceptible smile
appeared on his lips which was the answer Anton looked for.
These kids knew and had ways of doing things the adults couldn’t
stop, Anton thought and smiled.
“What is your name? The name your band gave you?”
The youth stirred a little, didn’t say anything; then he went
back to the cauldron.
“Come tell me your Indian name; it’s our secret; I won’t
tell anyone,” Anton insisted.
“Migizi…” the youth whispered.
“I like that name,” Anton said with a smile, “From now on
I’ll call you Migizi and it’s our secret. Tell me though: what is the
real name of your sister?”
“Miigwan.”
“Such a beautiful name. You must be proud of your sister…
and what is her Christian name?”
“Deborah.”
“Good Migizi; make sure you do a good job with that
cauldron, ok?”
The youth nodded his head and focused on the job in
hand by wiping the inside of the big vessel as hard as he could;
it wasn’t so easy to get the grease out of it with the little soap he
was allowed to use.
Dylan walked close to them and seeing Anton smiling
after he talked to the youth he asked him.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763602

Marginal

Repast
I fell in love with chair emptied
by the absence of a dead soldier
and the tender cyclamens kissed
the void where I hang hopes and treasures
while the immense number
of morons count their shallow virtues
in talons, staters and hidden gold
I fell in love with passionate lust
with the outline of the virgin’s endless
desire hovering in my dream
like a gracious albatross filling space
with new emptied, sanctified life
the nod of its meaninglessness and voila:
I am still alone in the silence
of a dark path halfway through the night
of people holding up vanity as if it were gold

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

The High Window Reviews: 25 June 2025

Karyotakis-Polydouri, The Tragic Love Story

Return
Smile of the Gods, Bay of Saronikos, always great
blessing of our ship’s route
we could hear the roar of the high seas as easily as
the calmness of your depth
under the morning dew like a dove with its body’s
nonchalance: Athens
shivers and revels like a nymph that longs
for the faraway sun.
Because the sky shines, blonde mane of Pegasus,
Fate of the Parthenon
glass that Zeus keeps upside-down that the dream-light
is poured a flood
prodigal son, I return to you swaying like a flower
in the breeze
earth, sky and you, oh sea of Attica, to whom I owe all
my Songs!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763459

He Rode Tall

Excerpt

It must have been three o’clock at night. Joel awoke to the
rumble of a vehicle pulling into the ranch yard. Peering out
the kitchen window, Joel confirmed what he already knew from
hearing the distinct sounds of the engine. It was Harry pulling
in with the old half-ton. Harry parked behind the ramshackle
caboose that served as his home, shut off the truck, and disappeared
inside.
Joel couldn’t sleep. When the clock on the wall finally showed
five he rose from the chair that had become his bed and started his
routine. It was six by the time he was down to the barn and he was
surprised to see that Harry was already at work. After exchanging
cordial “mornings,” the two men went about their routine of
brushing and then saddling the three-year-olds. The engineer in
him told Joel that it would be far more efficient if they saddled
more than two horses at a time, but with only two saddles between
them this was the best they could do. And besides, Joel was starting
to enjoy the break between working horses that allowed him to
think about what he had accomplished with the last horse, what
he would do differently the next time out, and what he would do
with the horse he was about to ride. As he became handier at saddling
and unsaddling, Joel was finding that he had less time for
this kind of thinking. As he learned more and more from watching
the old cowboy he didn’t need nearly as much time to think about
his game plans for the schooling that day. Without a doubt,

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

Unfulfilled

More
And of love, in silence
There was more
Than in words, the thousands
Said before
L’ectric Cat
Catch yourself
You dream in
Three (min)
What was that
You L’ectric cat

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763688

Water in the Wilderness

Excerpt

them the benefit of the doubt. They’re Ruby’s niece and nephew and her children’s cousins, so maybe she does love them, and wants to give them a home.”
For a few minutes they lay silently in the stillness of the house. A faint breeze riffled the curtains at the window, and Tyne felt its cool fingers on her shoulder. The tensions and sadness of the day had been made more oppressive by the heat, and she welcomed the respite of the night.
“We hardly knew the children until two weeks ago,” Morley mused, “which makes me realize we should be more involved with people in the community.”
“But you have been involved, Morley,” Tyne protested. “Look how much you did to get a new hospital in Emblem. And you’re on the Board of Directors.”
“But that doesn’t mean I know what’s going on in families and what their needs are.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t know the answer, Tyne. I just know that, as good Christians and good citizens, we should be more open to the needs of people around us.”
Tyne snuggled her head against his chest. “You’re a good man, Morley Cresswell.” She smiled into the darkness. “You know what? I’ve come to love those kids. Is it possible to become so fond of them in such a short time, or is it a passing phase, like a person becomes infatuated with a member of the opposite sex?”
Morley chuckled. “Ah no, I know what you mean, hon. It’s nothing like infatuation. I’ve fallen in love with them, too.”
“You know,” Tyne said, “I have to confess I was scared to death of them coming here. I didn’t know how to handle kids, and I wasn’t sure I would even like them very much.”
“You’ve done a good job with them, Tyne.”
“Thanks for saying that, honey. But when Rachael yelled at me the other day, saying I’m not her mommy, it really hurt. I wondered where I’d gone wrong.”
Morley’s arm tightened around her. “She’s hurting, and she’s angry. It wasn’t anything you did or didn’t do.”
“I know,” Tyne whispered. “I’m too sensitive.”

https://www.amazon.com/dp/192676319X

Ken Kirkby, A Painter’s Quest for Canada

Excerpt

Ken circled around the stone people, which he later learned were called
Inuksuit. Around and around he walked, occasionally reaching out a hand
to touch them in a dazed kind of wonderment and awe. For the first time
in many weeks, his spirit began to lift.
I thought I was quite a well-informed person on a variety of subjects,
given that in my upbringing, acquiring general knowledge was considered
important. General knowledge led you to being a generalist and it’s the generalists
that run the world so you want to have vast amounts of knowledge
in a variety of areas. So, you learn about the pyramids and the sphinx and
Stonehenge and Easter Island and all of that. But here were these strange
human-like figures made of stone that I had never heard of – and at that
point, I started to come out of my stupor. These figures got a hold of me. This
was something that captured my attention in a major way.
He set up his tent some distance from them, thinking perhaps they
were sacred symbols and while he struggled with his tent, he kept glancing
at the stone men, reluctant to look away even for a moment lest he
lose the magic. With his little tent tamed, and his camp set up on the
windy plain, he dug out one of his rolls of paper – from the depths of
his backpack – and began drawing. He rolled the paper farther after each
drawing and began another. He couldn’t stop; he was infused with the
same energy he had felt when he first began drawing, in Portugal, as a
young boy.
When his stomach let him know he was hungry, he walked down to
the river and caught a fish. Cooking was a challenge because there was so
little wood of any kind to burn. He had learned to start a fire with dried
moss and then add bits of shrubbery to get an intense blaze that lasted
mere minutes. He usually managed to cook one side of the fish over the
flame. Then he had to start a fresh fire to cook the other side. In time, he
learned to eat and enjoy raw fish because it was so much simpler.
While camped near the Inuksuit for several days, making drawing after
drawing, he noticed a group of people setting up camp some distance
from him near the river. The people on the west side of the river didn’t
acknowledge these people on the east side, and they in turn did not speak
to the people on the west bank. Ken concluded that these were Eskimos,
the people he had been searching for.
The Eskimos paid no attention to Ken and he did not try to make
contact. Instead, he continued to draw, fish and cook his meals. He was
consciously becoming a silent person and the deeper he fell into the stillness,
the greater the solace he found.
One day a woman with a deeply lined and weathered face carried some
fish and bannock on a flat stone to Ken’s tent, placed it on the ground and
walked back to her camp. Ken ate gratefully. “How shall I respond?” he
wondered.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0981073573