Stifled by emotion
waiting for a word
If only they came
easily, as song to
a bird
I long for the morning
that will end this
terrible night
Monthly Archives: May 2007
Shadowcaster
It’s the time of the shadowcaster
when the streets are turning blue
and the sky becomes distant
He is frightening because
he can turn friends and lovers
into dark silhouettes
and make beauty transparent
but one should never forget
that he is the only one
who can turn
violence into whispers
and ugliness into mystery
EL SEBBO
It’s not the heat …
The city sweats
sidewalks melt
The promise of
a squall falls short
People droop
in the humidity
that will not abate
It’s good to be home
(D. James)
The awful truth
Some say
that sex
is better
than poetry
That’s wrong
Sex is
much better
EL SEBBO
It’s never about what I think it’s about
Say one thing
mean another
think a third
How do we
communicate
when nothing
makes sense?
Unconscious animal
moving through
the day
Trying to find
meaning in
a word
a look
a gesture
Knowing there
is nothing I can do
to stop these random
inaccurate thoughts
From creeping
crawling
making themselves
known
But I keep thinking,
someday
all this will make
perfect sense …
Someday
(D. James)
Perfume and cigarettes
There is something I miss
in this healthy world
- the mixed scents
of perfume and cigarettes
giving beautiful women
this half-temptation
half-suicide aura
that reminded us
every day
that each minute
has a shadow
EL SEBBO
speakless
There are times
like now
when I get
tired of talking
These words
we toss at
each other
Repeating ourselves
seemingly endlessly
It feels like running
in place
(D. James)
Morning poem
Another morning
another poem
is this genius
or stupidity?
Like an old king
I decide not to answer
as I stumble out of bed
to make some
hopefully
inspiring coffee
EL SEBBO CANSADO
wait … wait … there’s something …
There’s something
I want to say
but just can’t
get it to come out
right
This urgent feeling
that needs expressing
Don’t know it’s name
or where it comes
from
not even sure
how to go about
getting it out
Like a mad pinball
rattling around
in my soul
Perhaps I just need
to let it roll
(D. James)
Greek gods
To Seferis, Elytis, Ritsos, Cavafy, etc…
Greek poetry
is probably
the best in the world
just like the beer
commercial says
It is blue
like a spotless sky
crushing the shoulders
and elevating the soul
like the turning
of the head
and the possibility
of a smile
It is white
like the bones
in my hand
or the proud
stones left behind
by forgotten
architects
Yes
the best poets
in the world
but it is normal
After all
these people
invented
ruins
EL SEBBO
today’s questions
How much time
is left before
the curtain falls?
Does peace reside
in the center of nothing
or is there no comfort
to be found?
(D. James)
What will happen tomorrow?
What will happen tomorrow
when the rain comes
and thunderbolts strike
at random?
Will I open my window
and applaud
or will I crawl
underneath my bed
praying to a God
who doesn’t believe
in me?
Will I run outside
laughing and singing
or sit in my room
shaking my head
and saying
“I told you so”?
Will I buy an umbrella
and walk alone in
the shiny streets
or will invite you in
and make a large
pot of coffee
so we can
chat about summer
and the passing
of the clouds?
EL SEBBO
good life
Pay attention,
the man said
It’s your fucking life
you’re living over there
There ain’t no
do-overs here
so make it good
’cause it’s done
gone before you
know what happened
(D. James)
Why Miller, Cendrars and Durrell are my friends
Because they are great writers
because they were friends
because they are always a great inspiration
because they agree to everything I say
because they like what I write
because they don’t take up much space
because they are dead
EL SEBBO
poetic contradiction
How many contradictions
can a poet make
in his life
before he is turned
into a politician?
(D. James)
Why poetry isn’t easy for us men (or “Tsvetaieva vs Brodsky”)
The best poets
are always
women
and children
Women use words
to resist
and exist
in this
closed and unfair
world
Children
are natural
poets
gathering words
and images
like a colorful
jigsaw puzzle
But for us
men
ah
things
are different
because
the words
we use
were given
not taken
and the images
forged
not gently tamed
and like kings
on a tacky throne
we believe
in everything
we say
although
our words
simply roll
at our feet
like the tiny
plastic pearls
of a broken
necklace
LA SEBBA
never take advice from a poet who doesn’t take any himself
Think of what
you have
that you don’t
really need
Sell half
and give away
the rest
You’ll either
feel freed
or deep regret
I have no idea
(D.James)
One French Haiku
Nothing inspires me today
This is France
after all
LE SEBBO
I am made in your image
For Seb
A stranger enters
the town square
and says
I am the second coming
I am the last prophet
I am the one and only
But the people ignore him
so he stands there silently
for 40 days and 40 nights
On the last day
he says unto them
I am the one
I am the son and moon
I have but one message
And still the people ignore him
Finally, as he begins to walk away
a man of the town asks,
“Where are you going?”
To which he replies
Do not follow me
And this is how the people know
he is the one true messiah,
the final prophet
They bow before him
but he says unto them
Bow to no one
Follow no one
Believe in yourselves
This is the only truth
To which the people reply
by building colossal monuments
and writing many books
about his teachings and sayings
For eons they preach
and pray for his eventual return
They pray and wait
and wait and pray
But he is a man
of his word and
will not return,
for they have
not learned the
lesson
(D. James)
Night has
To Zamiatin and a few other courageous souls
Night has fallen upon us
impeccably blue
with a few artificial stars
bringing promises
of warmer winds
and colder days
A night
everybody should love
and why not?
It seems so perfect
Protective
Absolute
Strong
Merciless
Yes night has fallen upon us
but we still have a lighter
and a couple of cigarettes
to keep us warm while
we are waiting for
our frailties to be
publicly mocked
and justly punished
under the hard blue sky
EL SEBBO
babbling
Snippets of overheard
conversations
phrase fragments
Strung together they
speak a major plan
of non-sense
and nothing
What are all these
words for anyway?
A question to the weatherman
Why is it
we can’t predict
the weather
five days
ahead
and we can predict
the apocalypse
ten years from now?
EL SEBBO SKEPTICO
darkness falls
Darkness falls
to the floor
and I am lost
in the ensuing
silence
It remains there
until morning
Sunlight crashes
through the window
scattering broken bits
of glass over my mind
All is well again
for the moment
(D. James)
A cheap thought
If we knew
where we
were going
would we
go there?
EL SEBBO
Take me quick
I don’t want to die
in winter
It’s too cold
Take me when it’s warm
so I won’t mind
the cold hand
on my soul
I don’t want to die
in the light of day
It’s too bright
Take me when it’s night
so I won’t see your approach
or know the hour
Take me on some
late summer night
when I have nothing
to look forward to
Take me when I’m happiest
for it does not come
often
So take me quickly
and make it good
Or I will be forced
to send you on your way
and have you take me
another day
(D. James)
