The amazing journal, Blackbird, has just included a new piece by yours truly in its Fall 2006 (Volume 5, No. 2) issue, a terrific grouping of writers, including the late Sylvia Plath. Check all of it out by going to:

http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v5n2/poetry.htm

The above is the poetry page only, but once there be sure to click on all the other great stuff as well.

photo credit: C. Roelofs

Skating in Monterey

for Jim & Cyndi Roelofs

One might say, driving
By an old skating rink, Ghosts
On wheels. In our inner ears,
We dredge up a past, reserved
For only a few: in a dark corner
Of the empty building, we glance
At the dusty skate concession;
Tuesday’s morning catch wafts
Through a number of broken windows.
I want to say: Yes! Just Yes!
In the 50s, people liked skating.
It was a good thing to do.
They’d suck in the Pacific wind,
On Tuesdays, similar to this. Crosby
Might be singing in a back room,
As boys and girls touched shoulders,
Then lips; spinning in circles
For hours. This is a lavish ride.
The car purrs its way out of town.
We watch the two of you
Roll down your windows at just
The right time, in hopes
Of breathing in trees. They are skaters,
We say; even in the heat
We come back to, they are skaters.

Copyright © 2006 by Sam Pereira

Just out! The newest issue of 2 River View, which has been kind enough to include a couple of new ones from a manuscript in progress. If you have an MP3 player (QuickTime, Winamp, etc.), check out the audio of these, as well as many other folks' work. Richard Long does a great job with 2 River and deserves a big hand.

Keeping Things Real

The roses get pruned today.
For the next couple of months
They will fight back,
Into the unforgettable perfume
Of Spring. The cold preserves
This moment every year:
For example, last year
There was nothing here
But a promise and still
She decided to stay. She insisted
The cold kept things real,
And smiled at the permanence
In that simple thought.

Copyright © 2006 by Sam Pereira

December 29

for Susan

It's the very idea Detroit
Made something other
Than the occasional okay
Cadillac, or gave
Aretha a chance to sing
"A Change is Gonna Come"
Into the closed hearts
Of an angry public
In cities not that distant:
Los Angeles, Pittsburgh,
Or Hoboken, New Jersey,
Where, God knows, they don't
Give up Sinatra easily.
So Detroit made you,
And the change did come.
I wake up this morning
In awe and in love; turn
In the direction I know
Leads to you, and whisper
This isn't a Cadillac, not
In a million haunted dreams,
But we're cruising. We're
Cruising, and I'm telling you
All the stoplights are planted
In some other place.
Remember? We had coffee
There and sighed a bit over
Something, perhaps
A birthday. There is always
Someone singing to our souls.

Copyright © 2005 by Sam Pereira

Brian Leary and the fine folks at 42opus recently published this poem, which I link to here in the hopes of sharing with the regular viewers of this site. Many fine works there by others, so check them all out.

The Holy Waters of Penzance

A somewhat belated, but well-intentioned welcome into the world for our new dog, Sonny, who has the obligatory Bishon Frise soul, coupled with just enough of a sense of poetics to make the romps in the backyard scholarly and joyous.

Many years ago, I was lucky enough to have a friend named Ernesto Trejo. He was a truly gentle soul, with an amazing gift. I was pleased to see that, even though the man is no longer among us, his work is. The Internet has its saving graces!

Author Ernesto Trejo, from the Oldpoetry Poetry Archive

Not that this has anything to do with Poetry, although it just might...today we are going sailing. I once wrote a poem about sailing. A good poem, taken by a big deal magazine. But today I am going sailing with the love of my life. No magazine on the face of the planet can top that.

A somewhat old (1998) interview with one of my former teachers and a truly genteel soul, poet Charles Wright. Audio here, too, for those of you who wish to listen.

Online NewsHour: Pulitzer Prize Winner-- April 15, 1998

Just a little clip of the late John Engman, reading his poem "The Building I Live In Is Tipping Over."

Augsburg College - Augsburg Now

So, after a longer than anticipated hiatus, here we go again!

This will be an ongoing mixture of current work, thoughts and ideas as they occur, an occasional quotation or two from minds better than this one, as well as various links that you might find of interest, relating to the world of Poetry.

For now, a toast to the spirits of folks like John Berryman, Larry Levis, all the other Johns (Engman, Bowie, Keats, etc.), as well as a toast to the living, breathing folks out there who still believe in this, the most invigorating of the arts.

Respectfully submitted on this 30th day of May, 2005.

Sam Pereira

There's an old Gram Parsons song--written by Tompall Glaser and Harlan Howard--called "The Streets of Baltimore." Every time I hear it, I imagine Mr. Poe stumbling down those dark streets, yet always on his way to something better. Happy Birthday, Mr. Poe!

Edgar Allan Poe