Linaji: Favorites

Nov 2011 Linaji

Bruised Orange

i hold my mind up to the light, and turn it this way and that, examining the cracks, peering into it,
checking its clarity.
i can stand this way, outside of myself, and say 'this is a clear mind', 'there are cracks, but nothing too serious, nothing that can't be mended'
but my mind is a tricky thing.  it breaks glass.  it slips and oozes through my fingers, falls to the floor, spills.

liquid truth stains the carpet of my interior.  no spot remover can take this blemish away.
and i cannot just leave it there on the floor for all the world to see.  i'm down on my knees, scrubbing and scrubbing through the night, but liquid truth just moves on down the hallway.  it is mercury, skittering away from my frantic hands.

all the while, my mind sits in the corner and laughs at my futility, recording everything on film, news at 9.

Nov 2011 Linaji

2 AM

Nov 2011 Linaji

v V v

2 AM

I do not cloak weakness
                       nor dagger with words,
                   not afraid of dark hours,
                                     to be so absurd,
                           the suffering silence
                     where symphonies sing,
through windows the wind chimes
                           colliding, they bring
                     the red soldiers striding
                                    on digital clocks,
                             electronic moments
             each click they unlock and
                           un-tether breathing
                             so sweetly sublime,
                         I relish these moments
                            this passing of time
                         delivering me peaceful
                        to reticent repose, my
                         symphony of silence,
                           life songs I suppose

Nov 2011 Linaji

The Trees are loving

Nov 2011 Linaji

Jack Singer

The Trees are loving

It’s easy to miss this.
each tree, each blade of grass,
a constantly dancing
mating ritual.

Majestic,
leaves and branches
****** outward
To stroke the world.
It’s ****.
These ancient creatures
Hanging over us.

What artwork!
The sculptures of twisted branches,
knotted bark.

The cars and people
fly by day after day,
forgetting to notice.

Slow down,
Press your fleshy palms
against an aching body,
Listen to It calling out

Love me.

--Jack Singer

Nov 2011 Linaji

Downhill

Nov 2011 Linaji

Jack Singer

Downhill

Racing ahead
laughing like a child,
I flew down the hill,
gliding,
motion so smooth,
Nothing could stop me.

I stood at the bottom and waited.
In slack-jawed awe
of the fall colors,
my breath misting before my face
in the pale moonlight.

Nov 2011 Linaji

Caught (Legend of the Selkie)

Nov 2011 Linaji

Corinna Parr

Caught (Legend of the Selkie)

I can't help that she calls me, love.
You've said yourself, she was a jealous mistress.
I'm well quit of her, and she of me,
though she still calls.

...oh but her body hides sweet pink flesh
and the salt, the salt on my tongue...

I've never regretted a night
Spent here with you, you know that, love.
There are things a mistress can't give,
And you've given them all to me.

...oh but she's wet and in her I'm slick
with me, she didn't crash, but flow...

Why doubt your own gifts?
The bread of your body,
This home made with four hands,
And the children, our love made real?

...oh but we are froth together
and moonlit dancers, fast, slow, bound...

I've never looked back and I'll always come when you call.

*...but I always look back
always come...

Nov 2011 Linaji

Now

Nov 2011 Linaji

stratton wayne stclair

Now

No hell is needed above us
nor heaven far below.
No judgment day required,
to sort out right or wrong.
The earth and living
is far more precious
than any rumored divine.
The gods envy us our lives
and this joyous earth;
they long to join us,
just to wiggle their toes
in the sand.

Aniu of far northern Japan believe that the gods envy us life and that the earth is far more beautiful than their heaven.- From Poetry Jam (on Toast)