Protestpoems.org has published three of my poems, The Burning City, A Dream of New York and House of War.
The editor, Richard, said it was the first time they featured three poems from the same poet at once, so it’s quite an honor.
Protestpoems.org has published three of my poems, The Burning City, A Dream of New York and House of War.
The editor, Richard, said it was the first time they featured three poems from the same poet at once, so it’s quite an honor.
This translation was published in Perceptions Literary Magazine, which was not online at the time.
By Rainer Maria Rilke (Herbsttag)
Trans. Curt Hopkins
Lord, it is time. The summer was enormous.
Lay your shadows down upon the sundials,
And cast loose the winds upon the meadows.
Command the last remaining fruits to ripen,
Give them just two more southerly days,
Press them toward their resolution, chase
The last sweetness into the strong wine.
Anyone who has no house now will not build one,
Anyone alone will remain alone for a long time,
Shall watch and read and write long letters
And will wander aimlessly down the lanes
In vague disquiet when the leaves fall.
**
Photo via Wikimedia
Three more of my poems have recently been published. This last year I’ve been on something of a roll, it feels like.
A New Jerusalem. Rhythm, a well-regarded Canadian magazine devoted to metrical verse, was good enough to publish this sonnet of mine.
Return of American Monster. (page 39) A poem I wrote at and about the end of my long European journey has been published in the Alaska-based online magazine Cirque, an innovative online publication that is really easy to read and very sharp. It must look great on an e-reader or iPad.
Autumn Day. My translation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem, “Herbsttag” has been published by the Oregon literary magazine Perceptions. The handsome book is a broad, white vellum-feeling publication with a cut-out cover. There is no online version of the magazine, so I will post the poem on my blog when a reasonable amount of time has passed.
This has been the worst year or two economically I have experienced since I was born. (And I was born some time ago.) But the administrative elements of the poetry industry have not, so far as I have noticed, reacted with the kind of empathy and concern that the rest of the world has. Some consider poetry to be above and beyond the petty concerns of the world. They are wrong. Poetry falters the farther away it strays from the reality and the blood of lived life. I would like to ask the administrators of poetry contests to address that. Read the rest of this entry »
Because I am still in the process of publishing my poetry – sonnets, lyric poems, translations – in other people’s magazines, including online publications, I have deleted all the poems I could find that I’ve posted here. The posts I’ve written announcing publications and linking to them I’ve kept. Posts about poetry I have also retained. Finally, I’ve kept those poems by the greatest poet the world has ever known, Bob Folder. Read the rest of this entry »
The ladies and gentlemen of Full of Crow have published my sonnet, “Our ship shivers and splits on black rocks,” in their latest issue. Marvel at it, why don’t you?
Photo courtesy of Terry Reis – Surf Shooter Hawaii
My lungs rebel against the burning cane
As lightning splits the power pole across
The field. Oahu starts to steam with rain,
A silver ship, all wrapped in moonlit floss.
My father walks its deck, the sailor’s gait
That keeps him steady on the rolling ocean
Does precious little to keep his heart from breaking
Looking down at me, his ailing son,
A little boy, as fragile as a kitten,
Whose storms cannot be ridden like the sea.
No hero’s worth of courage makes a difference,
He cannot battle what he cannot see.
Then suddenly my labored breathing eases,
The latest storm to hit Hawaiʻi ceases.
Published in the Bakersfield, CA, sonnet magazine, SPSM&H, in 2003.
Two of my poems, “The Sod House” and “Two Visions of the Infinite in Seattle” have been published in Issue #104 of the Anglo-Texan publication Gloom Cupboard.
Marvel at my poetryness.
The Paris- and London-based magazine 3:AM recently published three of my poems. They were “October,” a sonnet about my friend Jon Easley, “In Liguria” and “What Is Existence.”
You can read my poems in 3:AM here, as well as poetry, essays and interviews by and about people scattered around the globe.
I deleted my translations from Federico Garcia Lorca’s “Poema del Cante Jondo.” The editors of online magazines get their panties in a bunch when something you’ve submitted is on your two-bit blog. *shrug*
I’ve left up the non-Cante Jondo Lorca translations along with “La guitarra,” which was used in Menocal’s monograph (and the Asian American Times!)