Author Archives: michaeljarmer

#412: A Poem from Taylor Mali’s Metaphor Dice on April 8, 2022

My soul is an unruly wasteland,which is to say that it’s always in trouble,always digging through the wreckage, always searching for greener pastures,unsatisfied, hungry, desperately reachingfor a mirage ofcool, clear water. A Note on Today’s Poem: The assignment from Napowrimo today was to write an alter-ego poem. I passed on that particular prompt in favor ofContinue reading “#412: A Poem from Taylor Mali’s Metaphor Dice on April 8, 2022”

#411: A Poem of Forgetfulness on April 7, 2022

Three different spoonscame out of the silverware drawerthis morning before I rememberedthat I had forgottenI already had a spoon. Yesterday in front of a groupof students I could not thinkof the word “phonetic”–What’s that word, I asked, the word we use when wetalk about spelling a wordthe way it sounds? I came up with “phonically”andContinue reading “#411: A Poem of Forgetfulness on April 7, 2022”

#410: An Acrostic-Like Sonnet-Thing from Wordsworth on April 6, 2022

The world will be ending soon, the headlines say, is too much or too far already gone; it’s all upwith us; late we have arrived to the clean upand soon, there will be little chance of cooling.Getting and spending is still our Achilles heel;we lay waste to our only home, desperately gripour powers;–hope that itContinue reading “#410: An Acrostic-Like Sonnet-Thing from Wordsworth on April 6, 2022”

#409: Sisyphus Mows the Lawn, April 5, 2022

He says, this is easy. Child’s play. I could do this workwith my pinky finger, blindfolded, and I would be happy to do it: forever and ever. He thinks about the poor schmuckhe got “to spell him a bit” with that fucking boulder.He thinks he justmight keep mowingthe grass until there’s no more grasson theContinue reading “#409: Sisyphus Mows the Lawn, April 5, 2022”

#408: Still Another Erasure Poem on April 4, 2022

What do you want to find? No city. No door. No place. And a stone? A leaf? A door? My father’s eyes desire stoneand angel. Hill-haunted, the golden cities sicken in his eye, the opulent dark,sick with the million books. What do you want to find? I believe in harbors. There is no happy land.Continue reading “#408: Still Another Erasure Poem on April 4, 2022”

#407: Another Erasure Poem on April 4, 2022

Oh my god, here he comes!He was a myth:descending the dark stairs,flourishing gestures of a hat,the First National Bank–his open window.  Even in our ashesshe clasped the rich seclusion.She’s the one with the money.She’s the one wants to be an opera singer.She’s the one wants to be an actress! She halted, indecisively,the cool gulch ofContinue reading “#407: Another Erasure Poem on April 4, 2022”

#406: A Glosa for April 3, 2022

My meditation practice lately has been replaced with Arooj Aftab, a Pakistani-American singer writing her songs often by setting the words of 13th century Persian poet, Rumi, to music. She sings in Urdu; I don’t understand a word of it, and yet, 40 minutes or so with her album Vulture Prince is as good asContinue reading “#406: A Glosa for April 3, 2022”

Back At It To Celebrate National Poetry Month

Dear readers, fellow bloggers and poets, friends, Romans, countrymen, Lend me your ears and eyes, if you would. Every year there is a dry spell, a fallow period for yours truly in which almost nothing gets written. The last time I posted, it was December, 2021. This year that fallow period was way longer thanContinue reading “Back At It To Celebrate National Poetry Month”

#405: A Poem Inspired by the Etymology of Jargon and Clementine on April 2, 2022

The word jargon originally meant:birdsong. As in: this morning the backyard oaks were full of jargon. And the clementine orange was named after a French monk.And I wonder: how did the word for orange becomeassociated with lovers, and I learn,after a little digging, that the famous song is abouta specific woman, named afterthe orange, perhaps,Continue reading “#405: A Poem Inspired by the Etymology of Jargon and Clementine on April 2, 2022”