Tuesday, January 5, 2016

George Held ----- five poems

Total Eclipse

(August 28, 2007)

Chasing the blue moon
entering total eclipse,
down West 11th Street
toward the river,

passing Schnabel’s coral-red tower,
eclipsing the view
of the Hudson and the horizon,
and “Thar she blows!” –

about 20 degrees
above the buildings
on the Jersey shore,
the elusive eclipse

dragging in the dawn
as the moon sets
behind Jersey City
and the sun lightens

the broad river
and tugs a smile
from my sleepy face.
Meaningless as eclipses go,

this one sticks
in my memory
like a Vincent
van Gogh.





Menses

When a blue moon or a black
moon occurs—two full moons
or two new in one month—
              
I’m likely to have two menses
that month, and why not? –
my periods are powerful

as the moon’s. Think I can’t
influence the tides or drive
men mad? Ask my lovers.





How many

of your friends,
these days,
would you
entrust
with your life?

With your wife?









The Gone Moon
       for Cher

What if the moon disappeared
and left us bereft
of its cyclical luminosity?

What if the new moon
stopped renewing and left
the sky black:

no more crescents, halfs,
fulls, or lunar eclipses:
no more moonlit walks,

reflections on the pond,
companion in the night sky?
But those born after

would never know the difference:
and the poets among them
might be more, er, down-to-earth.





New Moon

The man in the moon
Isn’t there anymore:

Since the first moon landing
Cast him into deepest space

There’s no room at the inn
For him or other fanciful figures:

Little kids now fixate
On the star-spangled pixels

Of a black sky-like screen
That bright images fill

Like stars the night sky

Of the new moon.

5 comments:

  1. Have I read Total Eclipse somewhere before, or does it strike a familiar cord because it rings true. Well done, George...

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  2. Beautiful poems, George!
    Your friend,
    David Fox

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  3. Thanks, David, Pattie, Julie. Please check out my new chapbook, Bleak Splendor, at amazon.com or google Muddy River Books.

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  4. The four moon poems here are included in my forthcoming chapbook Phased II, a sequel to Phased (both from Poets Wear Prada, 2008 & 2016).

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