Two Poems

Albert Flynn DeSilver

              —from "A Field Guide to the Emotions"

Blame

blame it on the rain drop, yes,
that one to my left . . .

and the rickety heart of the innocent
the not-so-innocent, the redolent

blame it on the maybe, the might-have-been, the
woulda, coulda, and shoulda

blame it on larry, mo, & curly

blame it on the Mayberry's, the blueberry
the famous weary clouds married to the famous sky

blame it on the color green, the triple mirror beaming back,
your shaving cream, and that heart attack

fault the pole vaulter for the economic downturn, for
burning the turn-overs, for the atomic yearning between your
thighs, and that nasty hairpin turn

lay it upon the ladder rungs, the lamb's tongue, the
young ones

put it upon the uppity ups, the dumb clucks, the
crooked clocks

name the naysayers, the doomsdayers, the beautiful
brick layer's daughter blindsided by the limelight

litigate the waitress, the one in the snake dress and her accomplice
the powder-faced empress

accuse the fuse box, the rooster's friend Mr. Fox, the drunken loser,
and that crumple-nosed bruiser

berate the tomato paste maker, the hay baler, that communist traitor
down the street

blame it on the mustard, the f-ing bastard, the charred custard
and that boy with the purple umbrella
pointing back at the guilty rain

***

Freedom

we write
in blue ink
because of the
blue Buddha
and the blue
tiles lining the
halls of the
mosque at Mecca
because of Krishna's
skin & Mary's
robe & the stained
glass glowing through
the Church of
Christ down at Maple
and First, because
of the blurry blue
field pulsing at
your third eye
and the crisp
winter mirror of sky
forever glowing
there

Albert Flynn DeSilver is currently serving as Marin County California's first poet laureate. He is the author, most recently of Letters to Early Street, Spring 2007 from La Alameda/University of New Mexico Press, and Walking Tooth & Cloud, January 2007 from French Connection Press in Paris. Albert has published more than one hundred poems in literary journals worldwide including Zyzzyva, New American Writing, Jubilat, Jacket (Australia), Poetry Kanto (Japan), Van Gogh's Ear (France), Hanging Loose, Exquisite Corpse, and many others.

Return