untitled
by ROBIN CLARKE
Blessed with no memory
class today is devoted
to pushing your pens back &
across the wreckage. What would
happen if one woman told
the truth about her life one
child, rocket, mountain sequel?
A boy with dirt on his face
names the birds at the feeder
Mary, Joseph, baby
those are bruises. Why do we
look less human with each
passing sentence? Walk back &
forth, back & forth find the place
where your desks were.
Robin Clarke’s poetry can be found at http://burghforoneto.tumblr.com/.
Omen
by D J MOSER
Cresting the rise with dawn tingeing the clouds
in warning and the wheeling cries of birds
steeped in its blood he heard again the restless
ice popping beneath his feet one winter
in his youth in a shanty on a lake
that harbored fish far from this autumnal
dawn with a different pole leading his hand
up the trail he had followed out of the valley
to chance upon a ruin of walls scrawled
with ivy casting headless shadows down
through crippled rafters sagely slumbering
in dusky beards distinguished by decay
standing fast in mist awaiting rain decreed
by thunder listening for a voice from an altar
rising from the stones in the tracks of untold
steps wearing a trail to find answers to guide
them back to their homes in wonder as if
there were anything else to believe in
D J Moser is a freelance writer who lives in Washington, DC. He can be reached at dajamo@verizon.net.
Perspective
by Zorba Hassium Chaos
The first remembered thought
of Jesus:
Sawdust smells good.
The last remembered thought
of Jesus:
Sawdust doesn’t smell so good.
Zorba Hassium Chaos is the heaviest member of The Group 8. He was first observed in 1984. He can be reached at zorbachaos@gmail.com.
Editorial Note: (Please Read Closely Before Submitting)
To submit to Poets’ Basement, send an e-mail to CounterPunch’s poetry editor, Marc Beaudin at counterpunchpoetry@gmail.com with your name, the titles being submitted, and your website url or e-mail address (if you’d like this to appear with your work). Also indicate whether or not your poems have been previously published and where. For translations, include poem in original language and documentation of granted reprint/translation rights. Attach up to 5 poems and a short bio, written in 3rd person, as a single Word Document (.doc or .rtf attachments only; no .docx – use “Save As” to change docx or odt files to “.doc”). Expect a response within one month (occasionally longer during periods of heavy submissions).
Poems accepted for online publication will be considered for possible inclusion of an upcoming print anthology.
For more details, tips and suggestions, visit CrowVoiceJournal.blogspot.com and check the links on the top right. Thanks!