Sleeping on Horseback

Happy Year of the Horse!

We had ridden long and were still far from the inn;
My eyes grew dim; for a moment I fell asleep.
Under my right arm the whip still dangled;
In my left hand the reins for an instant slackened.
Suddenly I woke and turned to question my groom.

Restless Observation

Familiar music fills my ears
As I drown out the sounds
Of Lima, Peru during evening rush hour
Of beeping horns and squealing tires

La Hora de los Niños

Remembering Mexican poet José Emilio Pacheco (1939–2014)

Los niños traficaban con una nueva especie de ratas,
Anilladas como langostas y de color magenta y celeste.
Sabor extraño al principio
Pero como el hambre no miente
Nos habituamos a hornearlas.

Street Art of Peru: Murals and More!

Street art on Pedro de Osma in the Barranco section of Lima, Peru.

The streets and walls of the Miraflores section of Lima, Peru are alive with murals and other street art. The following pictures are representative of the Lima public art scene and also include works from neighboring Barranco — the Greenwich Village of Lima.

Let's take a stroll and let the art speak for itself...

Apple Uses Whitman Poem to Sell iPads

Walt Whitman a shill?

What would the poet think about his poem, O Me! O Life! being used by a major corporation to sell its wares? Would it be any different than selling a poem to a 19th century newspaper to curry a wider audience or would he be taking Apple to court?

First Lines Second Thoughts — The Storyteller

Il Domo en Firenze.

First Lines, Second Thoughts is a look at the first lines of well known literary works.
On second thought, do these opening words stand alone as poetry? As we continue our travels through Peru we shine the spotlight on her most famous novelist — Nobel Prize for Literature recipient Mario Vargas Llohsa and his novel, The Storyteller. Published as El hablador in its original Spanish in 1987. Published in 1989 in English.

The Art of Waiting — Don't Wait!

We wait
         -for the bus – not yet here
         -for the meal – not yet here
         -for the play – not yet begun
         -for the line – not yet ended

Morning Moment

Leaves falling on the table
— an annual event.
Drinking this morning´s coffee
— outside
Before this year´s red blossoms
— in an olive jar
— wilt.

The Bridge of Sighs

I too have been across this bridge
Appropriately as a quiet dreamer
Where time would pass by slowly
Like the turning of a page from a book of memories.

A Little Poem

Chuck wandering home from his favorite haunt — Chynna's Backstage Bar.

This little poem is all about Chuck
Who left the world — the bloody schmuck

O Chuck, he was a smart feller
And quite the story teller

The Dream of the Alligator

With a massive trunk that would roll with the wave,
The alligator lies stranded upon the shore;
It's spine shaped liked the Andean Alps,
With it's fearsome jaws and formidable tail.

A Day in January

Dawn breaks in a far away place
Stubborn leaves that cling to frozen branches
Frame the grey sky.
The disembodied voices on the radio
— to chipper for this time of day —
Call for more snow and cold.

Grandeza Mexicana

Un fragmento de un poema sobre la ciudad de México.

¿Pues que diré de la hermosura y brío,
gracia, donaire, discreción y aseo,
altivez, compostura y atavío

de las damas daeste alto coliseo,
nata del mundo, flor de la belleza
cumplida perfección, sin del deseo,

su afable trato, su real grandeza,
su grave honestidad, su compostura,
templada con suave y gran llaneza?

First Thought First Day

Happy New Year 2014!

Cradle the sunny day
As if it were the last
Shackle it!