Napa Fountain
—Katy Brown, Davis
UNEXPECTED PLEASURE—
GARLAND YASMENT
—Michael Cluff, Corona
Early summer "Spring Cleaning"
this year led to discovery:
an old blue polyester blazer
and blue/white checkered dress pants
from around the time
of Nixon's resignation
were packed away
with disintegrated mothballs
into the attic
overlooking
the now nearly stagnant pond.
A reminder of days
when making a religion class
at the mousy inland college
on time and relatively often
so as not to be dropped
was the worst worry
I had to face
or if the spray-on
shampoo
would comb out
all the dirt
collected
during a Thursday afternoon
track meet.
Now avoiding the auditor
and bill collector
makes me wish
the pond ran deeper
and ever so much faster
over the intermediate rapids
between here and Brown Bay Inlet.
_________________
IN THIS STAGE OF LIFE
(Frank)
(Frank)
—Paul Lojeski, Port Jefferson, NY
The great stones move far below
in red fire, as time shoves it
all forward.
Now, no more wine or wild nights
of disregard, the bones frail
and light like broken twigs.
I list those already gone
in a drama of loss and reflection,
this self-serving grief a shield
from my own break with the world.
How to approach the final moment?
Will poetry and love be there?
Putah Creek Cafe Wall
—Photo by Katy Brown
SIGUR ROS
—Paul
Lojeski
Staring
out
the
window
at
white mist
and
mountains,
he
begins to play
the
songs
in
his head.
Others
join in:
their
sounds
walk the
wind,
sail
streams,
fly
the night sky.
One
thinks of space
and
possibilities
like
riding comets,
feeling
the rush
of
sunlight.
And
eyes close
as
dreams' dark
doors open.
Walls of
music
everywhere,
walking
on
in
sleep's endless
rhythm.
Time
just ahead.
____________________
THE LIMITS OF REASON
—Paul
Lojeski
A
giant boulder
sat
in the middle
of
the road.
Crowds
gathered
and
pleaded with it
to
please move.
Later,
as evening
cooled
passions,
various
eloquent
speakers
stepped
forward
to make
sensible
arguments.
You’re
impeding
human
progress,
the
Mayor said.
Applause and
cheers
followed.
A mother
cried,
Our children
can't
see around
you
to the future.
Here!
Here! the mob
shouted,
and a thin
farmer
grumbled,
Your
shadow's
killing
my crops'
sunshine!
Some
pulled
their hair
and
others threw
themselves
to
the ground
but
nothing changed
as
days slipped
into
weeks and the weeks
into
months.
Still,
the great rock
refused
to budge.
That’s
when they
brought
out the dynamite.
___________________
MORNING CHORE
—Paul
Lojeski
Down
winding roads
in
spring rain, trees
heavy
with green.
In
the supermarket
prices
are high,
higher
than yesterday
with
no explanations
issued
forth from leaders
too
busy with the business
of
invisibility. Though
I
shake it off in front
of
shelves of cookies!
How
can an empire crumble
amidst
such splendor?
__________________
Today's LittleNip:
THIS AFTERNOON
—Paul
Lojeski
I
sat on the couch next
to
a table. The lamp
on
the table lit the way
across
poems of ancient
times.
Vast distances
were
everywhere.
__________________
—Medusa
Napa Doors
—Photo by Katy Brown