Last Rites of a Shook Monkey for the Wharf Rats If this is preaching, it’s from the pulpit Jerry builtin rehab before his last breath. If this is preaching, it’s for those who reachedbetween the feetto pull the plugfrom Jim Morrison’s tub. If this is preaching, it’s for the familiesof the six who diedeaths of […]
Read more "TIM STALEY – LAST RITES OF A SHOOK MONKEY"NICE HAT, THANKS was originally published in 2002 by Verse Press. A few of the short, collaborative poems are being posted here for educational purposes. The 2 poets took turns writing lines. This book is extremely rare and expensive. I use these poems as generative prompts in all my Creative Writing classes as it’s a […]
Read more "8 SCENES FROM NICE HAT, THANKS – JOSHUA BECKMAN & MATTHEW ROHRER"Within This Tree Within this tree another tree inhabits the same body: within this stone another stone rests, its many shades of grey the same, its identical surface and weight. And within my body, another body, whose history, waiting, sings: there is no other body, it sings, there is no other world. This poem was […]
Read more "JANE HIRSHFIELD – WITHIN THIS TREE"Meditation: Listening Listen. Nearby, water rushes through the hose, birds twitter in a bush. wind rustles leaves. Listen out farther. Crows cawing in a tree, hammers on a building site, distant dull roar of traffic. Listen for the sounds of clouds as they pile up, or scud along, or fold themselves into rain. Listen beyond. […]
Read more "JUDITH YARROW – MEDITATION: LISTENING"WENT TO WORK FOR LUNCH I went into work today & laughed as, for Once, everyone was pleased to see me. “Ah Brad,” one of them said, “it’s always Good to see you as that means my shift Is almost over!” “Yeah,” I replied, “the only problem is I Ain’t working today & do you […]
Read more "Bradford Middleton – WENT TO WORK FOR LUNCH"All night pine trees stand together – a cordon protecting us from what? * We sync up with the slow soggy heartbeats of a heron. * In silver glimpses fish dart in sunlight, churn the surface. * Driveway spider swells his body into her room. * The River Otter Under fog, a blunt nosed black […]
Read more "TIM STALEY – 15 LAKE MARTIN HAIKU"GRANDMA MOSES PRESS, the parent organization of CACTI FUR, is proud to announce they will be publishing 4 books by esteemed performance poet, Pamela Hirst. The books are Forgotten Graves, Personal Agendas, Ghost Town of My Soul, and One Dozen Lifetimes. This highly anticipated, powerful 4 book series is a work of recovery and discovery: […]
Read more "PAMELA HIRST – 4 POEMS FROM 4 NEW BOOKS"Early March The sky digs in her fingersto massage the mountain, presses deep into canyon cleftswhere the ache of glacier and rock-fall scrape is most acute,rubs a hard gloss onto ice and slickrock, breathes a thin heat onto sloped meadowswhere elk browse among winter-worn grasses, and a small fox, untouched by cold,a gold glint of […]
Read more "J.I. Kleinberg – Early March"Gone with First Light I fear the dawnwhen gentle streaks of lightpoke through the trees,birds trill in a chorus of morning,deer graze the meadowin the fading mist. For at first light you will rise,sleep draining from your eyes,hair tousled, stretch to the heavens,and plop back beside me, warm,inviting, planting a first and lastkiss on my […]
Read more "PETER WITT – GONE WITH FIRST LIGHT"Kim Porter, Police Officer It was just a routine checkYou were only going to searchhis car, you saw his expired license tagsand a tree air freshenerhanging in the rear windowit would just be routine:your 26 years of experiencenever failed youthen a warrant check discoveredhe had a warrant, a weaponspossession charge; he figuredhe could outrun the […]
Read more "Erren Kelly – 2 POEMS"
Cacti Fur 