ㅁ I was digging a hole in the earth that would lie beneath my new shed but I ran into problems: some twisted buried roots, a gigantic rock, matted branches, unlevel ground, frozen mud.
– a nonnet.
Category: Nonnet
Caveat: Poem #1645 “Craig”
ㅁ I looked up at Sunnahae Mountain. The moon rose over the west flank. A raven was on a truck. Another rose, flying. The parking lot dwelt among buildings by the streets in cold Craig.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1644 “It’s fun to go to the DMV in a snowstorm”
ㅁ We drove off to town through falling snow intent to see the DMV to enjoy bureaucracy and renew a license. On our return drive, Snow lay blankets across things, obscured all.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1643 “The back end”
ㅁ The machine wore the map as numbers. On the inside, rows of data preserved the points of the globe. Other algorithms Evaluated These abstractions, Drew pixels, Rendered Lines.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1642 “The duck”
ㅁ I step out onto the north balcony. The railing is covered with rime. The sun had set hours ago. Clear nights here mean cold nights. They mean scattered frost. I see a duck: Floating, there; Above, Stars.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1641 “Used words”
ㅁ Here are some of the words I have used; they present themselves to you all for your consideration; they might not be so clear, and they might lack flow; in halts and starts, they tumble outward, lost.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1635 “Onomatopoeic summary”
ㅁ I commute to town via potholes. Sometimes I can dodge them, swerving. But always, it's bumpiness. Thachunkity roughness. Umpadonkiness. Thunka wunka. Slow-fast-stop. Rattle. Bonk!
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1630 “Winter in the rainforest”
ㅁ Last winter at this time, the cold hummed. It tasted trees and wrought sparkles. It made the road as cool glass. This winter's song's distinct. It sends endless storms. It layers rain upon rain upon rain.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1625 “The recurring maps in my dreams”
ㅁ Dreamed I searched for a book but failed to find wandered cities, towns the tierra caliente in Mexico's humid south a book of hand-drawn maps appeared the man refused to sell it to me
– a reverse nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1618 “The air takes action”
ㅁ Wind solid transparent ephemeral touches of cold air damp with the falling rain making the trees' branches wave and lash at the resistant sky until at last it yields to the dawn.
– a reverse nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1617 “Teleology”
ㅁ Dark mornings surrounding meditations on the topic of the purpose of living and the vague expectations that arise quotidianly and then fade like a gust of wind.
– a reverse nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1601 “Back and forth”
ㅁ We drove into town, to the stores there. Also, there was an appointment, at the clinic in Klawock. We had the time wrong, though. We had to leave then... come back later. We drove south and north... and...
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1600 “Free bird”
ㅁ I watched the cormorant watching me. It can be easily alarmed. And then it will launch itself serenading the sea, squawking and flapping, highly annoyed, dismissive, aloof, free.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1599 “The anti-navigational manifesto”
ㅁ A small white moth caught some sunset light, dodging raindrops along the road. There's not much navigation taking place in its brain, it seems, as I watch: hanging in there, drop to drop, swoop up, down.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1598 “Cheaper than radar speed enforcement”
ㅁ Potholes proliferate in the road. They become gravel-based life forms. In slow-motion, they merge, swirl: mudpuddle amoebas, tasting your truck's tires, eating stray stones, lying there, slowing all.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1597 “East wind”
ㅁ If it's from the east we get some wind. Then the tree-branches wave outside. Whitecaps appear on the sea. Clouds struggle to stay gray. Shadows play around. Bushes convulse. The dock creaks. Birds swoop. Sighs.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1596 “The curmudgeonly elf”
ㅁ In my role as curmudgeonly elf, I tried hard to keep the mood light. It's all just a performance. But sometimes convincing. I make a few puns and awkward jokes. People laugh. I shrug. Smile.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1595 “Groping along”
ㅁ I rarely walk outside after dark. So when I did, last night, I saw: a faded reddish planet, a wheeling dome of stars, the deepest shadows of looming trees: no edges, but just dark.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1594 “Thursday is shopping day”
ㅁ We went to town for Thursday shopping. Our first stop was the library - had to refresh DVDs. Next was the post-office. And then, groceries. A cold wind blew. But no snow. So far. Soon.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1593 “Retail tales”
ㅁ The woman comes in regularly. Sometimes she just wants to visit. She has crossstitches to frame. There are things to be bought. Yesterday she told me she'd once worked here. Long ago, she'd stood, too.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1592 “Legends from the islands hereabout”
ㅁ The native man came into the store. He often comes in to converse, which is hard because he's deaf. He talked about a girl who fell in a creek in Ketchikan... almost drowned, but then, saved.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1508 “Daily percepts”
ㅁ I saw stones resting against the earth. I saw the trees for what they were. I saw a bear by the road. I saw the slanting sun. I saw fleeting thoughts. I saw the sea. I saw clouds. I saw. Slept.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1500 “Carcereal bindery”
ㅁ Books. Once, there, long ago, I had a job. I had to make books. There were machines, workers, loud sounds, and conveyor belts. Last night I dreamed I returned there. It was being run by the police.
– a reverse nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1491 “Landing in Beyem”
ㅁ The chill wind came off the frozen lake. The city lurked among its hills. A large ship rested, icebound. Still, the streets teemed with life. Columns of smoke rose. I walked along. Some birds spun. Sun shone. Lost.
– a nonnet set in a fictional city called Beyem.
Caveat: Poem #1473 “Language overtakes”
ㅁ Behold the novel impermanence that post-modernity grants us: culture's spinning, mindless wheels; entrained electrons' songs; epistemic games rendered raptures by thrumming, humming words.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1472 “Words urging patience”
ㅁ They said the trees would make me peaceful. They said the rain would wash my soul. They said the stones would hold me. They said that time goes on. They said other things. They said stories. They said wait. They said so.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1471 “Alternate approaches”
ㅁ No I don't really know why I feel lost but if I didn't then I would know why not and I could get on with things walk down the road confidently confront the hesitations and doubts
– a reverse nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1470 “Disconsolate greens”
ㅁ Things grow up and outward in my greenhouse filling the corners with effortful branches but then a mildew has come and attacked many of the leaves leaving my plants unmotivated
– a reverse nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1469 “A dynasty of questions”
ㅁ When the words flow through dreams like water, then the ghosts hang at the margins. They listen to what we say, and jump to conclusions. The air leans in, close. Answers are rare: so questions converse; reign.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1447 “Lost”
ㅁ Adrift in seas of melancholy Witness to birds that perch in trees Scattered like dandelions Gray just like the damp skies Renderer of lines Painted but dull Wordless soul Person Lost
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1446 “How poetry works”
ㅁ No. Poems which linger in the mind's eye do not represent anything except words. They spill out like spilled gravel, like insects lost in the damp air, and in the end they fade like old logs.
– a reverse nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1436 “I’ll get over it”
ㅁ I've not been in a good mood lately. The sky feels heavy and brooding. Uncles toss profanities. Birds force their cheerfulness. Tomato plants climb. Slugs cross stairways. Dampness dwells. Time stops. Dawn...
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #1428 “Plan for a future debate”
ㅁ Wind. Outside. Awaits me. More like a breeze. Arboreal moves. A waving of branches. Having crossed the sea, it comes. It chases bears and deer, they say. I will challenge the wind in debate.
– a reverse nonnet.