Poetry

“My Turn to Shine” and 4 other poems in The Curly Mind

curly-mind-myturnshine

Today, experimental poetry journal The Curly Mind published 5 of my poems: “My Turn to Shine,” “Reinforcement Labels,” “Some When,” “The Hold Up,” and “A Dose of Applause.” Seems like they are part of Issue 8. You can read them by clicking the title of each poem above.

DC people may be interested to know that “Reinforcement Labels” is set in Meridian Park (aka Malcolm X Park), and describes a typical weekend scene there, probably on one of the occasions my son and I went there so he could ride his skateboard.

Make America GONCH Again

Lo Goncho

Allagon allagon noch ohan
logonallanach cholloch noch nohal
nonoll ocalch hoch alag nach
gongalla noch chaggah oggon
choll agal ancha naag logolnag
cocall calla nonalla naollo
ogollocha agonoa nogg llogah
haagah golh nachlanna noll
golh noch colaag noch allo
noch allo noch allonagga
Lo Goncho no allo
chachallanagach agan galhannach
noch gangaang alloocal

 

One of my new lines of literary inquiry, the Gonch project has several different phases. Text pieces, like the one above, are written using a vocabulary limited to words invented from the nonsense phrase “All Gonch.” It’s an attempt to create a new language, imagining also the culture behind it through the shape, sounds and structure of the words, that might arise after the death of the current (American) culture and language. The composition proceeds intuitively, going for sounds and structures that seem poetic, even if they don’t carry semantic meaning to a non-Gonch reader.

3 Gonch poems in Brave New Word

bnw-9

Experimental poetry blog Brave New Word‘s new, ninth issue was just released today. Lots of great text and visual work by Rosaire Appel, Lin Tarczyinski, Dirk Vekemans, Joseph S. Makkos, and more. It also includes three of my new “Gonch” pieces: “Callanghan Anallah Onoch,” “Llonach Angac Onh,” and “Cohollochan Can Cocal Loc Nag.” You can read them here.

bnw-gonch

The “Gonch” texts are but one phase of a larger project I’m engaged in. All these poems are new work using a vocabulary limited to words invented from the nonsense phrase “All Gonch.” It’s an attempt to create a new language, imagining also the culture behind it through the shape and structure of the words, that might arise after the death of the current (American) culture and language.

 

“They Don’t Call Them Gods Anymore” and “A Long Sweet Line” in The Miscreant

2-poems-miscreant

Online poetry journal The Miscreant published two of my poems today: “They Don’t Call Them Gods Anymore” and “A Long Sweet Line.” You can read them here.

Keep in mind that “A Long Sweet Line” was written long before the current president ever thought of running.

“Facets of Massacre” published in Futures Trading

futures-trading-5.4

The latest installment of online experimental poetry journal Futures Trading (Issue 5.4) was published today. It includes work by many fine poets from the international scene. Somehow my work was included, a piece from my “Civilization’s Lost” series, this one called “Facets of Massacre.” You can read it and the whole issue here.

facets-ft

“Eat Your Own Dogfood” and two other poems in Zombie Logic Review

dogfood-zomlog

Zombie Logic Review published three of my poems today: “Eat Your Own Dogfood,” “Resistance to Extinction,” and “Plastic Love by Design.” You can read them here.

I first heard the phrase “eat your own dogfood” used by my wife Raquel, who’s a fountain of many pithy sayings. I think it means that one should have to clean up their own messes. It’s such a good line I wrote this poem around it.

“Another Broken Home” published in Night Garden Journal

another broken home-night-garden

Black Poppy Review recently changed its name to Night Garden Journal. Today, my poem “Another Broken Home” appeared under the new banner. You can read the whole piece here.

The story in the poem is based on a legend from Tinian Island in the Marianas archipelago, one of the ancient homes of the Chamorro people. Guam is the southernmost island of the group. The mushroom stones in the poem are actually called latte stones. The mythological king Taga built a large house on foundation of latte stones, today called the House of Taga. The story explains the origin of the foundation pillars.

While this piece is not technically a part of the “Civilization’s Lost” series I’ve been working on, it continues my interest in lost lands. Under the current US regime, it seems more important than ever to examine the fragility of languages, cultures and nations.