By Franco Beltrametti
translated by Stefan Hyner
Behind the village
garden of paradise
metal bucket painted in blue
for the water from the well
white wall garden with tomatoes and vegetables
bower with the last yellow leaves of the grape
the entire afternoon
reading under a blanket
stormy wind outside swirls up the leaves
Jacques is cooking tonight
i pick up the Retsina now
10 minutes down the road
to the shop of Alla Marina
where the wind blows
even colder
even stronger
Early Breakfast with Mourning Dove
by Joanne Kyger
See what happens when you waddle around
beneath the bird seed table
waiting for a hand out
You’ve become a sitting duck a pile of tiny grey feathers
“You Go to War with the Army You Have”
by Joanne Kyger
“The froth of rapid associations”
is entirely in the mind
This ‘here’ is not moving
Our garden has become over run
with a new generation of scrub jays
They make very loud sounds
and fly about aggressively
pecking holes in the apple tree’s apples
To make them fly away we clap our hands
or tap on the window
They mostly learn to shut up
The other day, our friend from Argentina
saw us run out on the deck
after lunch
and clap our hands
He thought it was some kind
of New Age California ritual
to end a meal
Time later to find out
what went right
and what didn’t go right, right
Wild Current is Blooming Pink, The Odyssey Found at Random
by Joanne Kyger
You are in search of some simple way to find your home
but the old gods reach out with their stories and resentments
and so your journey will be troublesome
and, frankly, endless
for you will go on to meet people
who have never heard of you
Caught inland
by the outgoing long tide
Where you will find a place to plant some seeds
And tell your story all over
And give a bit of sacrifice
so those dead ones
can speak