Lunar
by Jami Macarty
Baja California Sur, Mexico
1.
Limpets dangling from the backdrop —
Here’s the shoreline in Baja to walk for hours
to walk and no longer be seen —
The wind strikes a ready sail
imagine whales —
Our talking falls through the pearl seam of the waves —
2.
You spin the moon on your index finger
donate the total eclipse to my cause —
I swear to you I feel the earth move
the slip–disk of our shadow —
I become watery —
my mouth leaks the past across the desert —
3.
I am tired of the moon —
I give myself the bed for my neck —
I pull up the covers
save myself the drama —
4.
The moon climbs off the earth —
The Fall
by David McCann
All of it?
Yes, all of it. I want
all of it off.
So he did it.
This is what she paid him for,
how he made a living.
Her reddish–brown hair
fell all around her on the floor
as he stepped and stepped,
clipping as he did.
Small snippets of conversation fell too,
all around.
The mirror on the wall.
72 nd St.
by John Harris
A summer sublet. 72nd St.,
Three stories up. An ancient railroad flat,
Filled with listing bookcases, stifling heat,
Uneven linoleum, grimy plants, a cat.
Days were clerical — any job I could get —
Typing business envelopes, answering phones.
Nights were The Fire House — a t–shirt drenched in sweat,
Dancing at 3 a.m. to the Rolling Stones.
The City was that bench in a park,
A mattress on the floor, without a sheet.
The rasp of another man’s face against mine in the dark,
The radio whispering “Angie, don’t you weep . . . .”
David Meltzer 1937-2016
It is with great sadness that we learned this morning of the passing of the great poet and our friend David Meltzer.
David Meltzer was born in Rochester, New York, & raised in Brooklyn. He began his literary career during the San Francisco Beat & Berkeley Renaissance period in North Beach, California, & his work was included in the anthology, “The New American Poetry 1945–1960.” At the age of 20, he recorded his poetry with jazz musicians in Los Angeles & also became a singer-songwriter & guitarist for several bands during the 1960s, including The Serpent Power. He was the author of more than 40 volumes of poetry, including Arrows: Selected Poetry 1957–1992, No Eyes: Lester Young (2000), Beat Thing (2004), & David’s Copy (2005).
But most importantly, he was someone we were lucky enough to call friend. In our Summer 2014 issue, David was gracious enough to grant us an interview talking about his life, jazz and poetry. We are forever indebted to David for his amazing poems, music and spirit. The world is a slightly darker place now without him.