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 Oct 2011 JM Romig
Johnson Hagood
"who scribbled all night rocking and rolling over lofty
incantations which in the yellow morning were
stanzas of gibberish,"
            --Allen Ginsberg, "Howl"

I scream into the night
or perhaps I
howl, knowing nothing save
that I am, because I feel
which is, ignoring philosophies
of nothingness, enough for me

I am, scientist, poet, eater,
drinker, knower, lover
thinker
thinking
not knowing, but
believing

in laughter, a curse because
it is strong, sounds corrupt
as it curls away from my bitter tongue
like the smoke from a fire
that burned uncontrollably
through the night and in the morning
we awoke to the ash

consuming poison knowing
hoping that we may see
what our healthy, clear minds cannot
a world in which we comfortably
belong, can say “home”
and mean it wherever we stand

from your house at R’lyeh*, in
your tomb forever ensconceed
your laughter echoes and sours
the night which I call home
a gentle scorn upon my past
apocolyptic loves
destroying (or *******)
reason and care

the sober-now mind
completes the thoughts
of my past abstractions
calling me ever back
to the nights in which I was built
epigraph from "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg
as the title suggests, reading his poem inspired this one


on reading Ginsberg by Johnson Hagood is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
 Oct 2011 JM Romig
Alex Kersting
I write myself
My voice, my thoughts
Undisguised
Unplanned
Imperfect
But real, oh so real
True to my heart
To my thoughts, to my soul
True to me and to my world

Yes, my world
As it is my world
As much as yours
And as much as theirs
And the man on the corner
And the old woman lying
Dying, ending
Not her world anymore

But still ours, yes
Still mine
And I will speak and write of it
For the world to hear
To read, to see and to understand
If they can understand
Can they?

Not always, no
And what they do not understand
They protest, rebel, refuse
Try to quiet me, silence me
Steal my voice and call me crazy
Am I crazy?

Perhaps
But crazy comes and goes
like the light of the sun
And though crazy, I am still true
Still here, alive and real
And I will not be silenced
Render me mute
and I shall write instead
Take my pen
And I shall ***** my fingers
And write in blood
My blood
My soul
The purest way to write, I believe,
Of this world
This unplanned, uncensored world
As it is
And it is yours and mine
And always has been, always shall be
For it can not be anything else
Lest it cease to exist at all.
My first and so far only un-rhymed poem. Also my favorite.
The indifference of paper kaleidoscopes
touches the afternoon's stained glass.

Scattered bubbles of blood
repeat the vaporous names of rocks.

The world itself wavers between
straying syllables of books.

A blank moment arrives
staring at secrets made visible.

All day is the stillness of
unchanging light around the temple.

Between 'come' and 'go'
the same motionless theater of rest.

Time gobbles up
the elusively throbbing reflections.

Myself the ghostly transparency
made of circular-turning glass.
 Jul 2011 JM Romig
Nash Sibanda
My phone has been hacked,
I feel gladdened to know, that
Someone's interested,
In what paltry things I say,
To my mother.
 Jul 2011 JM Romig
Nash Sibanda
1
We are the folly,
Of youth, of life, of desire,
Adrift in mem'ry.

2
Where are they now, those
Rebels and dashing killers,
Chameleon kids.

3
They are all but grown,
Lost in a world undesigned,
Far from the school yard.

4
Still we look behind,
Towards the hills and beaches,
To days of summer.

5
Beneath an ocean,
Of stars and passing airplanes,
And a flash of Dawn.

6
Lead me to your stream,
Let me bathe in your water,
Float among the reeds.

7
Can you recall this?
Can you return to summer,
To asphalt fire?

8
She brings me to bed,
She strokes my hair, kissed my cheek,
And falls straight to sleep.

9
Now is then, and we
Drift back to days of summer,
Loathe to come back home.

10
'Twixt fields of amber,
Desert flowers in full bloom,
You danced beside me.

11
Were we so blinded?
Were we not the chosen few,
Destined for great things?

12
Alas, who can say,
If I or you are objects
Of beauty and worth?

13
You felt sun's embrace,
You heard wind's calm minuet,
You tasted sky's rain.

14
Who are you to love,
To tremble at awkward touch,
To sigh at brief gaze.

15
We were but children,
In tall grass, 'neath broad branches,
Through days of summer.

16
Oh sea, quiet surf,
In your hands I place my trust,
Guide me to the shore.

17
Porches of old wood,
Adorned with ancient varnish,
Painted eggshell white.

18
Be still, my lover,
Go where you may in spring time,
But return to me.

19
I remember those days,
Those hours of glee, of triumph,
Those seconds of joy.

20
Are they now all gone?
Are we left to pick at bones,
Of former glory?

21
Mother and father,
Brother, sister; all are here,
All are as one, free.

22
You knew me so well,
Took my failings as virtues,
My flaws gilded bright.

23
I knew you so well,
I dreamt of light and music,
A place you might love.

24
A tree once stood here,
Steadfast, elder traveller,
Now gone to new plains.

25
We made fire at night,
We pitched tents, drew pale portraits,
We lived as blithe lords.

26
Abandoned sea shells,
Stones so round they roam the beach,
A polymer bag.

27
I kept you so close,
Cleared the brush so you may lie,
Swept hair from your smile.

28
Night comes sooner, swift,
An eager rider, employed
With grim vocation.

29
Why must we now go?
Why do you see fit to leave,
With so much unspent?

30
You may not recall,
My face, my touch, my sorrow,
Yet I recall yours.

31
Still I look behind,
Towards the hills and beaches,
To days of summer.
A haiku/senryu collection for Haikuton's July endeavour. Now complete!
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