“Crucible” by Robert Pope
baked in resolute heat
courage pours from a crucible
precious mettle
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All posts for the month June, 2016
Henniker Covered Bridge photo by Jeff Folger
ancient timber-laid span
carried wagonload harvests
rural vittles and values
yankee grown of tradition
slow thumping shod hoofbeats
sighed rewards of fatigue
blended time enclosed echoes
where ghosts count as friends
tranquil passage is rare
along modern-day journey
yet here it prevails to
unburden my spirit
(The photo shows one of three covered bridges crossing the Contoocook River in my village of Henniker, New Hampshire.)
“Dark Magic Sky Reflected in the Lake” by Rock Bull
watching the lake watch the sky
still in youth of a trimester summer
these dim ancient eyes trying hard
to interpret the rippling of clouds
scudding gold in formations of flight
from an angry explosion of sunset
confessing their sins to these waters
unaware of my witness and eavesdrop
that causes my turn of attention to
all that I’ve done in my long day of life
I stand into the lake till it covers me
cleanses me washed with both water
and sky before time sends descent of its
deaf dumb and blind seal of darkness
Black Iris photo from pinterest.com
mournful call of taps
tears of a grateful nation
black iris in bloom
“Guernica” by Pablo Picasso
the beating Basque heart
still alive in stout oaks
of medieval assembly
no longer to broach
flesh and blood revolution
its body voice long ago
burned to blown flyash by
bombs of a Spanish born
nazi regime of convenient
atrocity merely to gain
for brief moment a patch
of strategic geography
but for a townful of
ancient berets hung on
pegs in proud houses
that stood in the way
yet the heart and the
trees the iconic arkbola
survive still in bright
Biscay sun bearing
gleam of their undeterred
robust affront to the
dead face of tyranny
“La Pieta” by Michelangelo
I kneel before those who
elicit the secrets of stone
who with uncanny placement
and grasp touch the mallet
to chisel on ancient cold blocks
of raw travertine limestone
or coarsely veined marble
whose handsome impurities
came to their grain when
convulsions within white-hot
wombs bore the offspring
of fire and mountain
I kneel before those who
ordain with their powerful
fingers perfection of man
tactile genius that coaxes
from hard angularities
timeless soft contours of flesh
in its model of moments
alive with expressions of all
the emotion a heart can
experience giving the gift
of immortal endurance to
human impermanent life
I kneel before those who
make flawless the flawed
forms of body and conscience
we carry through time
it’s the sculptor whose skills
can transform the prosaic
with sumptuous subtleties
elevate banal existence
creating from homely dead stone
possibilities at their epitome
more than painter or poet
the sculptor sits closest to God
Retention Pond photo by Jim Mueller
turtles drag breastplates
from a wavering mirror
clouded with skyscape
runoff from roadways that led
me away from yesterday
pyramids tangle the jungle
tumbling up stone runic steps
to vine-covered moons
incandescent with dull
mythic pictographs
seething with war-clubs
agrarian splendors
bleed from obsidian sacrifice
feathered serpents uncoil
to bask under rainclouds
that empty their shadows
across gilded ochre
gargantuan blocks seamed
by mystical slavery
wailing in recesses cut
from reliefs boasting triumphs
axle-wheeled calendars
crowded with codices
heavily roll from the mouths
of great cultural chasms
inviting new nemeses
wielding their ocean-borne plagues
“Aztec City” by 7leipnir
“Abstract 72” by Sierra G
geopolitics seems such an ill-suited word
for the slovenly interrelations of nations
and yet it’s an apt explanation of why I’m
more worthless today than just yesterday
Stonewood Press – 318 pages
Happy to announce that my latest book is now available on Amazon in both paperback and kindle editions, as well as on Barnes & Noble or through your local book dealer.
“Human Waters: Wordflows” is the eagerly awaited fourteenth full length collection of poetry presented by the popular and uniquely sophisticated voice of Paul F. Lenzi. Here you will find a wide ranging assortment of original poems that explore the complexities of our human experience. Essentially a free verse journey with occasional side trips into haiku, Paul’s work is, as ever, infused with passionate authenticity, replete with his signature musicality of meter. These poems are at once provocative, poignant, stylish and readily accessible. They are also remarkably memorable. Rich with artful syntax, this elegant volume stands up to the very best of contemporary American poetry.
If you would like autographed or inscribed copies of any of my books, please contact me by e-mail at pflenzi@aol.com
– PFL
Poesy plus Polemics 