Poems

that chiseled chin, sneer of command
where to begin to understand
such beauty comes from breeding
your Hapsburgness exceeding
and so we stand in awe
of your protruding jaw

here it is, a piece of Greece
caught by my inexpert crayon
somewhere in Peloponnese
postcard hasn't started fraying
signed XO, and as it happens
next I went to visit Athens

Author notes: art from fineartamerica.com

lady moon, in earthly shadow
no need to sadden or despair
for it cannot be too soon
as the month begins to swoon
you will fill the night with light
to our wonder and delight

Author notes: image from istockphoto.com

The night was dismal and tumultuous
and felines fell, with canine teeth
and I would let no canine, virtuous
into this night, for it's beneath
such acid rain that only dastardly
and gutless masters would, if could
let out a canine. I'm not bastardly
and so I wouldn't, though I should

well, I've stopped to smell the roses
someone better tell me when
these contemplative, faux poses
satisfy their inner Zen
there is SO MUCH left to do
as I sit here and I stew

Author notes: painting by Michael and Inessa Garmash

What's in a face? A lifelong journey
of smiles and frowns you can't erase.
Dark, sleepless nights that follow mornings
that lead to days you can't retrace.
That's in a face.  Well, and goodbyes.
You see those in their saddened eyes.

Author notes: image from yeyebook.com

a spiderweb, its filaments like steel
and yet how tenuous and flimsy
such is our life, by force of will
and often, whim or whimsy
interconnecting us
our daily labor
a trip by bus
a neighbor
we are
one

For you, my soul's unquestioned glories,
my queens and beauties, just for you,
those times of old, their fabled stories,
in times of leisure, be they few,
attentive to their ancient glamour,
I jotted down, my hands my aides;
Please do accept my playful grammar!
Though not expecting accolades,
I bask in fervent expectation,
a maiden, passion be her guide,
will steal a glance, if on occasion
towards my sinful stories' side

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/poem/16005761-Translation--The-Shoreline--by-Pushkin-by-Agee

Socrates, he liked to tease
was the subject of much hate
Athens, wasn't hard to please
on the rest, there's some debate

She walked across the room, a feral cat,
a gait to make a man weak at the knees.
Her bodycon sheer black, and she, all that,
took out a cigarette, and gestured: please.

I fumbled for a lighter, hands unsteady.
No luck -- pants pocket jingling with loose change.
The desk's top drawer came to the rescue. Ready,
she bent her face towards me. "Something strange",

she said, a kitten toying with a mouse,
"is happening, my husband's not been home.
Can you find out if he's a cheat, the louse.
Please bring him back, wherever he may roam".

Recovering, I nodded, lit cigar.
I should have known it will be a noir.

Author notes: iambic pentameter (sonnet) format

vultures picking at a carcass
memories, gnaw at my bones
picking mostly at the darkest
long forgotten are the dawns
oh, I'll wave my hands and shoo them
they'll jump back a step or two
beady eyes, I see right through them
maybe I should throw a shoe

sitting on a park bench
eyeing little girls with bad intent

is so yesterday

nowadays Apple Watch tells you that
you have to get up
and keep that step count up

Author notes: with apologies to Jethro Tull image from flickr.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4zPu3ISCGs