You never know what we'll churn up in cleaning a stall
the reality of who we are
becomes too unbearable
to sustain
the animal, adorned
over shame
crawl away, then
in whose image
of Creation
are we naked?
O Holy One
casting light within
the diverse exhaustion
yet exposes
and heals
Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set, click here.
a rabbit in a bow-tie and party hat
laughs at a departing alligator
people holding umbrellas float over the stage
drowning the kittens as an adult act of mercy
people in yellow raincoats
floating under pink umbrellas
set against clouds
the woodcut sheep now resemble Georgia
a plain chair topped by a salmon-fish rung
a flock of sheep already dyed
twenty-two pigs come singing on the bare ground
“Simple Gifts” in operatic voice
a woodcut of a full stream laughing through a birch forest
Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set of Partitas, click here.
light in shimmering bronze
illuminates maritime charts and sails
unfurling with desires, an escape
in the apex of broad wakes
who you think you are
doesn’t matter
when the tide turns
a band from the North Star
turns toward harbor –
glints of affirmation or rebuke from a stranger –
ruffles bells and rigging
identities don’t matter
when the wind turns
off we go, then, and this time
this world or this way and then another
five seals, headed north
their heads sparkling with stars
disappearing quickly
the austerity of beach swept clear
Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set of seacoast poems, click here.
sometimes quite sandy, sometimes the clay
we inherit
black loam’s best for farming
excessive acid or alkali
impose their toll
compacted soil simply won’t breathe
my Lady of Potting
explains
“organic matter,” she says, meaning compost
and manure, especially. “it needs to be fed”
to say nothing of her disdain for “dead dirt”
so I stop to admire earthworms
flourishing in healthy soil
air appears in many natures
especially when it breathes
inspiration. expiration. a circle of life
a tornado, a cooling, a withdrawal into nothing
dry lines of laundry. clear a picnic table
swirl smoke from an open blaze. snuff burning matches
lift a kite. lift an airplane. lift birds
and countless insects. sometimes paper
sometimes squirrels. ripple the waters
ripple the flags. the prayer flags, especially
burn with heat. freeze with ice
water appears in many natures
sometimes sweet. sometimes salty
sometimes running. sometimes still
fresh or brackish. a cloud, a storm, a gentle rain
a stream, a pond, a cavernous pool, an ocean
rock appears in many natures
sometimes quartz-infused. sometimes basaltic
limestone’s favored for buildings
granite, for headstones and curbstones
coal fuels industry. ore refines into metal
gemstones become mysterious in their clarity
mountains tear into the wind. shape the rain
some qualities are visible. many are not
they mix together in thousands of ways
look at the horizon, look at the ground
landscapes emerge apart from map-making
Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
For more, click here.
beach umbrellas at the foot of the sagging pier, forever
towels wrapped in ribbons on a sandstone floor
* * *
don’t know this beach as a sandstone floor
how long a floor measures good fortune
wrapped in sandstone ribbon
this beach a long floor
doesn’t good fortune wrap itself in ribbon
knowing this how long
a good beach wrapped sandy fortune
kiss my face running with
new black Eagle purity at the soapy foot
of umbrellas she’ll kiss my
pure soapy Eagle face
while umbrellas run with new black
at her foot I’ll kiss this
new black soap opening
umbrellas forever facing
my Eagle kiss in the foot run pure
soap face Eagle
umbrellas run at the foot
forever new black
~*~
Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see all 50 Preludes & Fugues, click here.
denying my weaknesses
even now
as I peel
* * *
ascribing the heavenly
reflection
I’ve sought only loveliness
or brilliance
less stable than marble
guilty, all the same
to be
uniformly repulsed by deformity
truly
transitory beauty cloaks
impending hideousness
of the flesh
though I’ve been so famished for affection
and tenderness
to be blinded
in my transgressions
as by a blister
* * *
who would not doubt, considering all the evidence
unanswered
in lonesome infidelity
without an angelic trance
on waterless ground
Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set, click here.
I confess everything
I’m guilty
even when it comes to crime
I’ve failed
I can’t even lie, if I try
as for confronting an issue
I understand none of the charges
they say a house
even an old house
settles
but that’s not precisely
accurate, where
sinking
and sagging
are more apt
Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set of Partitas, click here.
Rouge on lips or toenails, the glimmer of gold jewelry or a gemstone, the glossy photograph or the slick magazine, the light in a drop of costly perfume, the shimmer in a particular weave or pattern of spectacular cloth, or the haute (hoity-toity) air of a trendy boutique: each reflects eternal desires and feminine intrigue. The interplay of status-seeking, gamesmanship, the swift-changing hunt, and the theater of fashion spreads out far from its urban epicenters – and crosses nations, languages, continents, and ages. How quickly a little girl insists on her own definitive style! The poet and poetry are not immune, either, infused with their own tastes and passions. Where a dictionary observes gloss as “the luster or sheen of a polished surface,” there is also the danger of “a deceptive or superficial appearance” as well as “an effort to hide or attempt to hide (errors, defects, etc.).” Still, a gloss may also attempt to interpret or translate. The curve or the motion, the smile or the gaze, skin itself, or hair in sunlight or moonlight, each concealing while hinting of revelations. So often, awaiting next month’s editions.
These are the poems that conclude my newest collection, Foreign Exchange.
~*~
For these poems and more, visit Thistle/Flinch editions.
prevalent, from the west
clear and cooler, from the north
rain on the way, from the south
tempest, from the east
reading the wind
in a flag
in smoke
in running clouds
or water in a clear thistle tube
listen, a storm approaches
through leaves and hills
the same sound as falling water
surf repeats its snare drumming
along the shoreline
matching a far-off airplane
all voice great power
resounding
in a stream
in the tide
in air
even in a light bulb
what’s present, now
within some great
motion
around each wing
the flow of thought
keeps running
ring around the moon
as a warning
listen, rainfall
will warm the ocean
and swimming is best
just after high tide
Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set of seacoast poems, click here.
such a beautifully speckled trout
balancing on its head
* * *
n June
swirling
a long fish
a fish as long as the boy
a boy balancing a large fish on his head
in June swirling a long fish
a fish as long as the boy
a boy balancing a large fish on his head in June
swirling
a long fish as long as the boy
balancing a large fish on his head
red, yellow, blue, and green
under a decorative fish such a beautifully
speckled trout of a man running
back with quahogs and a tan Beyond Frog Hollow
tours halibut? red, yellow, blue, and green
man running tours under a decorative
fish back with quahogs and a tan
halibut? such a beautifully speckled trout
Beyond Frog Hollow red, yellow, blue, and green
a man running tours of halibut?
I really do need to get to know fish:
how to identify them under a decorative
beautifully speckled trout
red, yellow, blue, and green back with quahogs
and a tan Beyond Frog Hollow man runs
tours under decorative quahogs and a tan halibut or
such beautifully speckled trout Beyond Frog Hollow
I really do need to identify
~*~
Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see all 50 Preludes & Fugues, click here.
Jnana's Red Barn 