Long Mackerel Poems

Two, perhaps three miles out to sea, beyond the reef to Zapatillas,
Bocas’ dual sand-edged footprint jewels with jungle centre trees, 
Francesco’s outboard boat heads out to Caribbean’s deeper blue.

Where sun burns softer gringo skin, but...

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My stomach is growling from the coconut trash bubbling in my system, my stomach is growling from toxic energy circulating in the street. My stomach is growling from words people are shouting in the town;...

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Jim Daley and Joe McCarthy had something in common. They died at 80 going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Walt O'Brien, their protege, found this out when he called the homes...

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Spring equinox arrives March 20th, 2023 at 5:24 PM

Despite what outside temperature registers
(even absolute zero), the official arrival
of spring occurs, when thee eel hip tic
of coe phish hunt holy Mackerel
becomes tangential to barenaked ladies 
barren...

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What once was a peaceful, delightful place 
Joyful and friendly creatures in God’s grace
A stunning morning, a soulful sunrise
A village heaven has gifted, a prize
The most grandiose of rainbow arches
The villagers, spirited because March is
The...

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Smile, you are sitting there telling me to smile when the entire universe is going wild; smile, you are telling me to smile when the bills are not paid, the salaries are delayed and for...

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I am a foodie, I must confess, I swim a few laps for exercise
Along come the Mollusk, and to my pleasant surprise
I have no restraint and they look so yummy
I just open my jaws wide,...

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Gray Sky modeled, a Leaf on its Falling,

And thus tenaciously wounded, a slow and Bitter Abandon

Crashes,

Past Churches among Coals

And Faces lined, tunneled by ants, cicadas

The mouths of Sad dead Men.

Gray Sky tears Into Dirt,

Cars and...

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Teacher tried to teach his class that Christmas isn’t boring
Half the kids weren’t listening and one or two were snoring
He picked out little Lucy, she seemed the one most liable
He made her prove she’d listened...

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Ol' Sea Snake's Carriage Ride

Cobblestones wobble and rock the carriage, 
as I circle these streets with Blue Bits and 
Derby Boy on this vibrant morning.
 
With the sun on my back and  a salty...

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(Jodhpur is a beautiful, cultural, historical city in Rajasthan, India. This poem is all
about Jodhpur from her mouth as she told).


Left behind her beamish days of time of life, her days of girlhood…
Left behind her...

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Show me a place where I can be in a little island far above the sea where the skies touch the hills and transmit a message to my window sill. Show me a place where...

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Skirting church on Puig de Missa,
then down the slope towards the river,
St Eularia's Rui, with path that winds on to the sea.
Past the smelly goats, where poking little
fingers get nibbled, and goat-dribbled
through the fence. 

Billy...

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Saturday Farmers’ Market 

Here’s how it goes at our Farmers’ Market:
shoppers all ages, clothing, and races,
parents push bundled babies in strollers, 
children dash eagerly through the crowd. 
Others meander to and fro, seeking 
new food...

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"A Mackerel Sky" 

shadows like sun 
dance across 
an ocean of tears

salt for the stinging
walking on clouds
with the Fisher King, 

as if in school 
in the swim of things 
fishing nets for love

all in the...

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BILINGUAL  CONFRONTATION


She entrée-ed into the room and it was all so déjà vue
Because her Quebecois wiggle was timed to match the tango
But she’d met her match with the senorita from Peru 
Madre de dios...

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"A dozen or so times per night is fine, but too much of a good thing
generally leaves one somewhat sore."
-- a singular captain of seamen heroic
 
*   *   *
 
When from...

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A parasympathetic parody in a par is neither equivalent to a vineyard crushed into a jar or a hammock in a cartwheeling car in a traffic jam. Human hypothesis having heaped havoc. And mackerel make...

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Washboard Waltz

Is a washboard musical when scrubbing socks on its metal ribbons?
The woman in the basement was not aware of anything other
than the soap suds, steamed-up windows and the sense of hopelessness
when working on a...

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I've got a dish of killifish
I wish to eat that silly fish
Baked, or fried in peanut oil
Roasted, dried, or let to boil.

Make me a star-gazy pie
Take me to the Catfish Fry
Lead me to the China...

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Said a Cod to a wise old Eel,
I would like to know how you feel?
Though people snack on dips,
Lots more eat fish and chips.
They say it has great meal appeal!

Said the Eel to the wise...

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The Fulton fish market 
 
 
Day breaks early on the misty water front 
the streets wake outside South Street 
to  sounds of fog horns fading in the distance 

Morning comes alive to the...

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The heroes welcome...
So he lumbers home,his day, rough..long ..up before dawn.. watching his child still asleep..but he must.. running to gather his wares, to catch the bus ..which takes him to the inner section of...

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Adrift upon the ocean  
bob a bunch of resting birds.
What is it that they call themselves?
A flock or school or herd?

Could it be this feathered colony  
is a band or horde at best
No...

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Quatrain 1
Sitting alone at nadir in serpentine sloth;
it is placed on the breeding typo.
A slight failure comes out of the emptiness and makes
successful that which should not be believed in the rain.

Quatrain 2
The worm in...

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