The Last Wednesday in August
It’s the last Wednesday in August and I’m
on the beach with my friend Branden Wallace,
watching him Eakins bare-assed by the receding tide.
He brings seashells and driftwood into flotsamy
dream formations pointing out directions
in a mindful but fleeting way. The distant hook
of New Jersey. Staten Island. Airports. Riis Park
to the left of us. Seagulls soar and horseshoe crabs
belch in big wriggles below. He kneels
and looks at the significance of each change
in his creation, gets up for perspective,
observing the chance materials that
figure the lines. We return
to the waves, chickenfighting with guys
on our shoulders. They capsize, limbs
flinging brine in the air; soon we'll be
gone and fall will bleach its stern
happiness
into the
sand.
We stretch
out while the moon
is slowly released over the back dunes. Men
arrive for an evening’s private dispersal
of pleasure; the bay trees and beach plums
soak up their presence in a silvery haze. We forget
about money and the hard call
of Manhattan
until gravity sighs
lifting us to the stars.
Perry Brass
August 26, 2009
Ft. Tilden, Queens, New York
[Note: Branden Charles Wallace is a sculptor and painter. For more
info:
http://www.brandenwallace.com
MOONLIGHT MILEAGE: A SONNET
by James Schwartz
O Muse! I no longer mourn morning’s death.
The hour grows late, no reason for leaving.
The air growing thick with throat and breath.
In state of undress, foggier breathing.
Only one moon for so many poets.
Do I dare ask for more? You shut the door.
Stealing my senses and taking my coat.
Making up miles and days away we bore.
Moonlight white the night. Moonlight white the gloom.
Midnight vespers, jasmine, sodomy.
Poetry conceived as fruit in my womb.
My moonlit ghost you are a god to me.
Mists and mornings melt into our pale tomb.
The black of day glittering in your room.
James Schwartz was born 2.19.78 and raised in the Old Order Amish
community in SW MI. where he currently resides.
Schwartz is the author of several poetry chapbooks including The
Scarlet Band and Other Poems (2005). Schwartz's poetry has been
published by Poetry Life and Times, The Rainbow Gazzette, the
Australian poetry / art journal OutSide the Lines, The Poets Haven,
Babel: The multilingual, multicultural online journal and community of
arts and ideas, The New Verse News and Patricia Jabbeh Wesley's
International Blog on Poetry for Peace.
E-MAIL:
thescarletband@yahoo.com
A JAMES SCHWARTZ CYBER READER
http://ajscyberreader.tripod.com
A JS GOSSIP BLOG
http://jsgossip.blogspot.com
BABEL:
http://jamesschwartz.towerofbabel.com
Home
News
Warlock
Excerpt
Now a word from our sponsor: Didja know you can also read my books on
Amazon kindle, and have a great time doing it? Carnal Sacraments, Warlock, The Harvest, and Angle Lust are now all on that
dear little instrument. So knock yourself. Buy a Kindle, and read me
there.