"lumina" poems
Packed in the back seat of
your cramped Chevy Lumina,
and parked on the frontage road
behind the conifers
in your backyard—
the moon is low, a jaundice yellow,
the car is stalled, the heater grumbled;
you pull me in to warm me up,
my glasses fog,
you steal my smile—
[Your father, for his Sunday sermon,
packed the house—Leviticus:
“’Their blood shall be upon them,’ and
all God’s children said?”
“Amen.”]
Our breath condensed, whisper-white,
traced our initials on the window—
in after-laughing afterglow,
you swallow, nervous,
before you kiss me.
We don’t let go, till cabin lights
illuminate your father’s form—
the verse, full force, the wrath of God,
a hurricane—
a Horrible.
I never saw you afterward,
poor pastor’s son, where have you gone?
Like Pyramus, at the sight of blood
on Thisbe’s veil—
we don’t prevail.
Dec 14, 2018
Dec 14, 2018 at 8:19 PM UTC
Bodies jostle toward the heatsource,
Foot stomp, elbowed in the rib,
Muttering voices hoarse, exhale mists
That swirl like deadmen's ashes in the wind.
Pale lumina saturates the cinder skies,
Under which the aged remember
The suns of former lives,
Their memories the glowing solitary embers
Of a world we've left behind.
Ahead, a mother veils her babe with rags
From a passer-by's ravenous gaze.
A man automatously drags
A rattle-bag of assorted human remains,
Leaving trails in the dirt,
Leaving trails in the dirt.
We have splintered apart the frame
Of this landscape of hellpain,
Against smokestack sequoias and asphalt seas,
We stumble toward the crematoria.
My God, the coldness hurts!
As upon the canvas of this frozen Earth
We enact the terminus of human innovation,
The burning of every breath,
The engineered suicide of civilization.
Out, out, brief candle,
said Macbeth.
Into the cull chamber I step,
Hoping there at least I will find warmth,
In death.
Sep 23, 2020
Sep 23, 2020 at 6:33 PM UTC
We’re standing together now, under the light of our winter moon.
Standing proud, for the love we will share begins soon.
I see your face, shining, with that certain celestial light.
You’ve brought back my hope to glow eternally bright.
Unattested, you have answered my call; all I’ve been praying.
And I’ll always cherish this peace and the love you’ve been saying.
You’ve filled the gaps, sitting idly inside my heart.
It’s been longing for you, all this time we’ve been apart.
I will cherish this life we’ll have, so you can be closer to me.
And for the greatness, we’ll share, growing endlessly.
I want nothing more than to face this all, together.
And the chance we have to start our “happily ever after.”
///
Acum stăm împreună, sub lumina lunii noastre de iarnă.
Stând mândru, pentru dragostea pe care o vom împărtăși începe curând.
Îți văd fața, strălucind, cu acea anumită lumină cerească.
Mi-ai adus înapoi speranța de a străluci etern luminos.
Neatestat, mi-ai răspuns apelului; tot ce m-am rugat.
Și voi prețui întotdeauna această pace și dragostea pe care ai spus-o.
Mi-ai umplut golurile, stând în inima mea.
Mi-a fost dor de tine, în tot acest timp am fost separați.
Voi prețui această viață pe care o vom avea, astfel încât să puteți fi mai aproape de mine.
Și pentru măreția pe care o vom împărtăși, crescând la nesfârșit.
Nu vreau altceva decât să fac față tuturor, împreună.
Și șansa pe care o avem de a începe “fericit pentru totdeauna.”
Feb 10, 2021
Feb 10, 2021 at 10:23 AM UTC
as yellow metabolises to red,
I speed underneath it,
thinking,
intuition's dead
colour-confused yesterday, colour-wise, now
novel concepts you can dip naked in tea
if until slowness illness reigns,
the missing yield sign assumes power
green lights we have yet to prepare for
-c.j.
Feb 13, 2017
Feb 13, 2017 at 8:35 PM UTC