101 poems and other things

first things first: a big THANK YOU & HUG to each of you lovely people who emailed or posted congrats re my chapbook news. being able to share this with you and knowing that you are happy for me, has made this so much better! :)

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it was a good week as far as poetry was concerned - i had acceptance notes from eclectica ("a driving instructor has a recurring nightmare" - written for my second spouse, of course) and loch raven review ("december rules of conduct", "how to prepare for winter"). the preview of LRR tells me i am in good company - i know half the people in the upcoming issue. nice. i'll post links once the issues go live.

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so: this is day 100 of a-poem-a-day. i'm quite impressed, if i say so myself. and the funny thing is, i have actually written 101 poems, because i wrote two today. it just happened. the second one is much better than the first one though. i cannot imagine not writing my daily poem, though i should probably take a break. i've challenged myself lately, and i'm a little exhausted. if the words still insist on coming, i will let them in. or out.

so, as promised, here are the titles (some actually still need proper titles):

poem 01 - he is (an abecedarian of sorts)
poem 02 - reading the dictionary on a sunday morning (a double abecedarian aka utter madness)
poem 03 - Sonnenizio on a line from Barber [2] (On a morning like any other, she wakes to find ... )
poem 04 - Report, with Love in the Air (cento with lines from McClain)
poem 05 - Sonnenizio on a Line from McClain (And I imagine getting my chance to talk; to finally tell ...)
poem 06 - Introducing Navels: Griseldis (a rare prose piece)
poem 07 - Sonnenizio on a Line from Barber [3] (No one can see you now. You are unglued. ...)
poem 08 - Meet My Breasts (another short prose piece)
poem 09 - Afterglow (another abecedarian of sorts)
poem 10 - Goddess - Sonnenizio on a Line from Barber (She will be goddess. Fall to your knees and pray. ...)
poem 11 - Shadowland - Sonnenizio on a Line from Barber (A light snapped off and you're gone. You're in the dark. ...)

here's one of the poems - otherwise you might doubt i have ever actually written anything! ;)

reading the dictionary on a sunday morning
(double abecedarian)

aphrodisiac: something that makes your body fizz.
breath. a drink. a sliver of food, maybe moist, possibly
clam-shaped, suggesting soft folds, proposing sex.

darling: term of endearment. whisper and see how
electric skin can become. two syllables, a leitmotiv
for nights between the sheets. alternate with du,

gentle caress, almost blue around the edges, almost
heart-shaped in your mouth, before a tongue flicks
in and out - short sudden movement, a tease: enter,
jiggle, withdraw. like a yes. like the A to every Q.

kinetic energy – produced when something moves: up,
like a back arching, a knee bending, an urgent hand to
mounds; down, like rivulets, like lips closing in on
nipples; skin against skin, limbs learning a rhythm.

oh – whisper your desire, shiver with surprise. feel
parts of you respond in their own way. forget to think.
quiet becomes impossible. trust your body to be the DJ,
rotating soundtracks of monosyllabic delight. "yes, oh, i ..."

string together moans, caresses: add yours to his with
tingling fingers, one by one. brush, graze and cling.
under the weight of a black night, follow the network of
veins. leave the known roads. read him like braille -

writing in raised dots, tiny bumps. do not sign a bold
x on his back, sign with a cry sharp as a blade, ecstatic
yes to a rhetorical question. sign with a gasp, a sob.
zoom in on bliss. a close-up of love. you, the camera.

i missed a trip to the christmas market with friends, the company christmas party (not that i was in much of a mood to go there anyway) and my sister-in-law's and niece-in-law's birthday party in upper austria, because i have been down with a cold and fever since wednesday evening. the weekend was the worst. i spent half the time asleep. seems like my body was telling me that no, i cannot go on like that, sleeping so little. i am better now, the temperature has gone down, but i am still rather tired, and as i said elsewhere, my head feels the size of a small european country, with all of its inhabitants gaily jumping up and down. i hope that i will be fine by tomorrow. i need to get things done, and i am getting sick and tired of bedbedbed and channel switching late at night (a health hazard in itself).

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i promised to post a few muse pics - and i've finally got them edited. so there you are - courtesy of julia.







song of the day: sundress by ben kweller.