birds are messengers from the next universeÂ
their songs tell us where to goÂ
to pass through to the next universeÂ
the songs explain where the escape holes are locatedÂ
there is one hole for each birdÂ
and one bird for each personÂ
are you ready to pass throughÂ
I amÂ
another universe is waiting
*
the library was silent
but the fart was not
*
My morning coffee is the mighty Mississippi River, the strength of my continent, and every morning I am La Salle, paddling to find the source of the river. So things are bound to happen. There, look; the sun is up and I have my oar in hand. Stand back. I am a busy man.
*
we could shine our light quietly like the sun
like the moon and stars lovely and silent
*
the doctors cut me open
but it wasn’t blood that came out
rather it was tiny james lee jobes
all of them gushing out
like snow melt streams up high
in the sierra nevada mountains
or like a psychologically sick orgasm
and so another day begins
*
when you buy humanitarian mousetraps
but forget to check them and the poor mouse
slowly starves to death anyway
*
Love is at the center of all things living.
—james lee jobe
A poem by Walter Pavlitch, 1955-2002.
Sarajevo Bear
The last animal
In the Sarajevo Zoo
A bear
Died of starvation
Because the leaves
Had fallen
From the trees
Because
The air was
Getting colder
So the snipers
Could more easily see
The few remaining people
Who were trying to
Feed it.
—Walter Pavlitch
Award-winning poet Walter Pavlich was, from the mid-1980s through the late-1990s, a regular presence in literary magazines and at literary festivals throughout the US. I knew him, he lived here in Davis, California. A charming fellow, he is missed.
Some Links, safe to click.
Ode to Herb Kent, a poem by Jamila Woods
Deep Water Trawling, a poem by Jorie Graham
This Birthday, a poem by E.J. Koh
art by Kaitlin Brito
It’s ok to subscribe. It’s as easy as cooking peas in butter.
THANKS - JLJ
Some fine images from yourself, and the Pavlitch poem at the end took my breath away!