Finger Free
—Poetry and Visuals by Smith (Steven B. Smith), Cleveland, OH
Spirit to bone
bone to flesh
flesh to worm
worm to earth
earth round sun
sun around a long long time
the rest
but time and chance
bone to flesh
flesh to worm
worm to earth
earth round sun
sun around a long long time
the rest
but time and chance
2-Dollar Orb
RESURRECTION RITUAL
Low hope
body closer to dark than dawn
lids locked
eyes blurred
bone bruised in battle
spirit sagged
flesh failed
I crawl broken before dawn
from bed to sink to stove to coffee
in resurrection ritual
worthy of Doctor Frankenstein
or the unlovely Lazarus
for rise in radiance
as holy caffeine
rolls stone to new daze
and second cup
Low hope
body closer to dark than dawn
lids locked
eyes blurred
bone bruised in battle
spirit sagged
flesh failed
I crawl broken before dawn
from bed to sink to stove to coffee
in resurrection ritual
worthy of Doctor Frankenstein
or the unlovely Lazarus
for rise in radiance
as holy caffeine
rolls stone to new daze
and second cup
Bird Reign
MANIMALS
Dog on floor snoring
wife clacking laptop
my lap cat purr
His human leaving
he barks and whines
in Stockholm syndrome
Dogs piss on things
cats knock stuff over
I do both
Dog on floor snoring
wife clacking laptop
my lap cat purr
His human leaving
he barks and whines
in Stockholm syndrome
Dogs piss on things
cats knock stuff over
I do both
Blue Deco
This almost-summer night
thick with existence
road hiss
cricket creep
frog peep
broken muffler mash
dream schemes
waiting glue of dawn
when again
we get our rock
again upward go
where again we all fall down
again
and again
and again
man woman and child
There's some insect
has no mouth
it's born, flies, mates, dies
all in one day
no future, no past,
no planning, no ask
thick with existence
road hiss
cricket creep
frog peep
broken muffler mash
dream schemes
waiting glue of dawn
when again
we get our rock
again upward go
where again we all fall down
again
and again
and again
man woman and child
There's some insect
has no mouth
it's born, flies, mates, dies
all in one day
no future, no past,
no planning, no ask
Lemon Seed
LESSON PLAN
4-wheeled ants
scurry to hurry
rat wheel cage
Weathered whether
grows and slows
rise or slide of time
Big-bellied men
fat-assed women
who's who's?
Magic life
where creed bound by bleed
sniffs at breath
Tooth and claw
claw and tooth
always been the truth
False profit of want
drives new god of get
awaiting fall from tree
Greed crawled from swamp
to lower limbic lesion
and named itself Capitalism
Right lane ends
wrong lane continues
while rich bitch other's sins
Long ago
and far away
back when I believed
4-wheeled ants
scurry to hurry
rat wheel cage
Weathered whether
grows and slows
rise or slide of time
Big-bellied men
fat-assed women
who's who's?
Magic life
where creed bound by bleed
sniffs at breath
Tooth and claw
claw and tooth
always been the truth
False profit of want
drives new god of get
awaiting fall from tree
Greed crawled from swamp
to lower limbic lesion
and named itself Capitalism
Right lane ends
wrong lane continues
while rich bitch other's sins
Long ago
and far away
back when I believed
Manifest Destiny
NO BEGINNING NO MIDDLE NO END?
Is it the Big Bang?
The Big Bounce?
Some Conformal Cyclic Cosmography?
They cry cosmological inflation
graceful exits
and mirror worlds
but where are the sky splotches?
The space blobs?
The primitive gravitational waves?
Primordial black holes?
Right-handed neutrinos?
Why is that side of the sky
the same temp as this side?
Why no isolated photons?
Come on dudesses and dudes
give me something to work with here
besides the steady state universe
or eternal inflation
(sounds like my household expenses)
the long poemed multiverses
the sexually oscillating universe
with its Big Crunch
and "branes in bulk"
Is it a flat hologram projected onto the surface of a sphere
or digital simulation on a vast computer?
What is this no time no place space
we rebound from
beyond this event horizon's
no beginning no end
of no place to be or have been?
Validity of Relationships
She lies sleeping in our broken chair
beneath once-plush blanket
body weary from work
responsibility, stress
maybe me
due my 27 years extra entropy
as I crumble toward compost
and posthumous fame
I know I make her life better
and worse
of curse
while she refines me and mine
sublime
The world's tooth and claw
flee and fight and fuck and feed
but within pus of need
and bleed
we heed occasional pockets of plus
the flowered field, the honey flow
the sun of warm and slow
beneath once-plush blanket
body weary from work
responsibility, stress
maybe me
due my 27 years extra entropy
as I crumble toward compost
and posthumous fame
I know I make her life better
and worse
of curse
while she refines me and mine
sublime
The world's tooth and claw
flee and fight and fuck and feed
but within pus of need
and bleed
we heed occasional pockets of plus
the flowered field, the honey flow
the sun of warm and slow
Ghost Christ
SIX THOUGHTS IN SEARCH OF A BRAIN
It is what it is
you know how it goes
life
Walking dog
my pain versus his needs
constant compromise
Lotta levels
to unfolding disaster
from "Oh fuck" to "Holy fuck"
Is writing renga
by yourself
masturbation?
There's no
below below which
I will not go go
It's one of those days
best to get some sleep
start again
____________________
Today’s LittleNip:
Just awoke
and already worn by weary
is it bedtime yet?
—Smith
__________________
Our thanks to Steven Smith for rocking our poetry world today with his sounds and senses (dogs piss, rocket hiss, cricket creep, frog peep)! Poetry is about the music of words, and Steven is definitely a composer who knows all about that. Thanks again, Smith, for the melodies and rhythms of your poetry and visuals.
Tune in tonight to Davis’s Poetry Night Reading Series with “friends old and new”, 8pm. This is their last Zoom reading; go to ucdavisdss.zoom.us/my/andyojones/. Starting June 3, they will move back into the John Natsoulas Gallery for an in-person reading by Indigo Moor and Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas, also 8pm. Host: Andy Jones. See also Dr. Andy’s weekly newsletter at andyjones.substack.com—and please subscribe!
__________________
—Medusa
Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world, including
that which was previously-published.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world, including
that which was previously-published.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
