When I was 12, I wrote a poem about Chicago’s Buckingham Fountain and I won $2.00. For two years, I lived in Mexico City, where I began a small business crafting decorative rugs to sell to local stores and tourists. I moved to Chicago and created a business making fine art rubber stamps. I now live in Knoxville, Tenneseee, and write on a word processor, where my buried writer self writes poems.
Calendar
The day is shivering
glacier clouds spewing
frigid silver winds
scattering spiked shards of sky
crystal ice claws raking the air
into frost tatters.
The day is peeling warm
sunshine curls like kittens
playing on the grass
newborn bud nubs
paint delicate perfumes
onto glistening rain patterns.
The day is melting
heat drips and droops
fire fingers scorch touch
everything is crisping
everything is growing
swollen hot ripe.
The day is rattling
burnished leaves
cascading castanets
smoke feathers the light
green transforms
to golden red
soon chilling ice white
will capture the world again.
*****
Cooking Calamity
In the kitchen catalog
of burns, scrapes and cuts
this accidental slice into flesh
sudden shallow stinging
is not an unfamiliar cooking hazard
finger pops into my mouth
instinctive toddler style comfort
blood flavor staining my tongue
salty tang lingering
brackish warm red
I suck a spicy juice that unites all flesh
universal human flavor and color
glowing as it cleanses
my skin wrapper split slightly
adorned with a ruby blood bubble
gradually crystallizing
tinting the pattern of lines
etched into my personal leather
seems a shame to bandage the coiling design
but sensibly I clean and swab
pull an absorbent pad over the gap
and return to my nurturing task
kitchen ninja
braving the perilous dangers
of knives and steam and fire
blood bathed throb abating
repaired and renewed
just in time for dinner.
*****
Farmers Market Seduction
We are in a plaza
where lines of white tents
have suddenly sprung up
like rows in orchards and farms
with multicolored produce
arrayed in quaint baskets
and tempting pyramids
we are breathing in
the familiar sharp green scents
of crisp leafed lettuces, coiled cabbages
broccoli buds and knobs of radishes
multicolored beans are tangled
like necklaces in a jewel box
feathery herbs are flinging fragrances
when the longing catches me suddenly
a longing for new thin stalks of asparagus
curls of pea shoots and velvety pods
cool as your fingers brushing my cheek
I am suddenly thirsty
for ripe red and yellow tomatoes
seeds pressed urgently against thin skins
threatening to burst secret juices
the way you coaxed my inner fountains
to flow over your fingers
summer heat has swollen purple eggplants
thickened cucumbers and zucchinis
berries and cherries round and tight as nipples
tumbled next to apricots blushing to rose
perfumes of white and gold peaches
sticky figs splitting ripe flesh intoxication
I am craving your kisses like nectar against my lips
your hand finds mine
I turn into that secret smile of your dark eyes
time to go home.
*****
It’s Simple, Really
I want a room
a room at the top of the stairs
where I can close the door
and be alone
in simmering bubble of words.
I want a clean desk
and a cup full of pencils
with sharp points and new erasers
stacks of crisp white paper.
I want a magical keyboard
that catches my words like a net
daring phrases
brilliant as comets
that flame my thoughts
and ignite
a blazing word storm
of fearful clarity
so perfectly radiant
it pales the sunrise
and charms the moon to sleep.
I want words like galaxies
in a room at the top of the stars.
*****
Knoxville New Year 2022
Yesterday – last year
we sat in sunshine on the patio
air warm as a hug
listening to the wind combing sighs
through the winter stripped branches
bronzed leaves littered over the grass
the quince bush dotted with fat buds
white flower knots pushing back at green shells
today
everything is etched in white
air cold as a snub
trees outlined in fine stripes of freeze
drifted white blankets tossed across the garden
lawn chairs topped with snow cushions
the bird bath now a mini skating pond
quince buds are furred in snow collars
this new year begins with surprises
weather tricks
or forecast
*****
Midnight Recess
In the planetary playground tonight
the sun and moon
are playing hide and seek
massive white reector
nickel bright moon rising
up a ladder of stars sparks
climbing through streaky clouds taers
brushing fish shapes and bird wing designs
across the murky sky
then the moon floats
up away from the fallen sun
to become roseate glowing
flower bud beaming
the night is pretending
to swallow sliver by sliver
a cinnamon red moon
midnight beacon eclipsing
as the sunglow melts away
darkness veils everything
encircling a dainty rusty moon
but then the sun flips a switch
the ruby filter falls away
shadows fade in moonlight
silver face blinks again.
Show over.
*****
Snow Shower Ballet
“Snow shower” was the forecast.
In a winter of curious catastrophes
this novel title
is an unfamiliar description
acquainted as we are
with northern snow terms
blizzard, snow storm, whiteout.
Now in the chill of a grey sky
barely breaking into blue
delicate chips of flake
almost snow appear
in a flimsy, fragile falling
a sprinkle of wintery decoration
glittering the air
tossed by every whim
of wind choreography
circling sideways and upward
in twirls and twists of air
a dance of random patterns
raindrops solidified
too slight to drop directly down
performing fleeting pirouettes
before disappearing into melt.
Snow Shower Ballet
*****
Spring Rise
Just a minute ago
it seemed winter was winning
thick snow layers
discomforting every plant and tree
cruelly chill whirlwinds
then torrents of rain
slamming in with menacing
crashes and flashes.
But suddenly
sunshine seizes the sky
swift transformation
bony bare branched trees
appear decked out in fancy lace dresses
pink and white pom pom trees
popping up amidst the early frothing
of vibrant yellow green leaflets
signal flags of change waving
tufts of purple and hot pink alyssum
gypsy carpets are softening stones
audacious upshoots
emerge in clusters of color
tulip, daffodil, crocus,
hyacinth,lilies of the valley
impudent and bold
challenging the early bud full quince
the dazzling blaze of forsythia
glaring like a street sign
ordering yield
now winsome fragrances
thread through
winds become breezes
spring rise arrives
delicately
deliberately
triumphant.
*****
After he retired and moved to Sedona, Arizona, he taught literature at Yavapai College in Clarkdale, Arizona.
He and professional artist Bev Kephart bought a small motor home in 2003, sold most of their possessions, and traveled the U. S. for seven years. After visiting Mexico several times, they settled in the village of Ajijic, joining the ex-pat artist and writing communities.
Mel’s writing has been published online and in print in The United Kingdom, The United States, Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia. He is the author of three novels, a book of short stories, and several books of poetry. He and his wife now make their home in the village of San Nicholas de Ibarra.
- Poetry Niche – April 2025 - March 30, 2025
- Poetry Niche – March 2025 - February 28, 2025
- Poetry Niche – February 2025 - January 30, 2025
