Last River Crossed

Call me away

call me to a depth I’ve never betrayed

call us into unjustified views

black alley moonlit framed

draped in elegant scribe

soothe me in nude Indonesian memories 

stand in the shadows of dark market bath house steams

calling my name out through your hollow breasts as if I knew

breathing the last invidious unknowns

talking yourself into every last riddle you've cried

i was a tourist and willing 

you were the master of seams

the angel of make believe

daring me in to conceive

 

do you remember the last river crossed

it was as easy as the summer of Lent in the green hacienda

the clerk with his ill lit lines

your eyes well slipped under his and both of us undefined

weighing each word with our Americana style

till later our love seeped into the dark murk and bay

 you removed me into consciousness 

removed me with a single word 

and I remembered why I was ever born

the heretic made and tossed into a blunt lamp fog 

where you found and gave my life a name

and I walked across the river alone

 filled with the pretense of an actual cleansing

Reviews

[Esther]

Honestly, the language is so smooth, yet beautifully serpentine!

[Perdition]

Thank you so very much Esther for such a kind as generous review! Looking forward to reading your poetry...soon as I recoup from this and brutal day~

[Esther]

You're welcome!

[gram linski]

That was an awesome read , the last four lines stand out but the whole as a hole of actual cleansing, loved the use of language, would not attempt to summarize your writing, just enjoyed big time,

[Perdition]

Appreciate the visit and kind words...thanks and glad to hear you enjoyed it...greatest of praise I know~

[Ted Kniffen]

Damn...damn...damn!! This takes me back to a time when I immersed myself in the discovery of poets...still ongoing by the way...who wrote what they felt in a curiously mystic kind of way...not caring if the reader grasps the meaning or not. The oblique references of Bob Dylan or an Al Purdy or Leonard Cohen...even McKuen that infused many a night in the 60's with a rawness that is missing now...or is definitely hard to find until now.
This piece is one I understand all too well...it is the beginning of an adventure... a search for truth in what we do and who we are...a journey of transcendence.

A good write.

[Perdition]

Wait... We're suppose to care? Oh crap!..well back to the drawing board..haha. Truly some wonderful writers/lyricists up there so "DAMN" back at ya. Not even close to being on the same page but I'll take it.. To this day Hallelujah still brings me to tears..rest in peace Mr. Cohen...and I still keep my eyes tall like prairie dogs at the record stores (and yes they're still out there) for a copy of Fields of Wonder...my mother thought, once upon a time it would help me sleep if she played that album but sadly sleep was a lost cause for me and just as everything else that finds a place deep in that crevice of the heart that desperately tries to hold onto everything that ever means anything...it was lost. God that album was awful!! To top that...
"A good write"..one of the first and best compliments I ever received, given to me back when I was on the road with a cigarette in hand, sitting in a worn down diner booth with five dollars in my pocket and a ten dollar bill ...just me and the waitress to work it out..of course we did..I showed her my poetry then I think I painted her house...lol. But her words.."a good write" still stick. Thanks for that memory and your tremendously kind review...Go Ford or go home! First car... " 66 Mustang"..man..too much. Thanks Ted Kniffen...seriously..thank you.

[barleygirl]

I'll start with a disclaimer that I'm not very good at nuanced writing. I am not getting an overall picture of what this romantic involvement looks like, but I'm getting what it feels like. It seems like you're writing in a disguised shorthand, referring to events that must be clear to the narrator, but not clear to me. Just little glimpses of how these two ended up in this spot. And a few lines really resonate for me, such as: "talking yourself into every last riddle you've cried" . . . these brilliant flashes of clarity are, for me, the stand-out part of your message (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Perdition]

Ever wake up one morning just not right...you start to think (my first and best mistake) about how every poet has a doomed life in a hard but beautiful voice...a Fitzgerald or Cobain..or "Imagine" by Yoko-John, while others are left to struggle their reality and daily ritual..what is real..Love..Hate..what is not ..EVERYTHING. Poetry tries! Its happening right now in some little room where parents are screaming at each other or at a young life disrupted by a stupid act that is going to define them..or in an old warehouse where someone is hiding from an unbelievably f*****g hard world that lives inside of them...someone is writing and In the end it becomes a love affair between the readers and the writers. The poet just punches a hole into a wall, a quasi-limitless wall for others to look through and see what is possible..Transcendence...If you write books and your Kesey or Kerouac then the road or a sane madness ( might as well have been the Congo and Conrad ) bus ride through a madhouse becomes your opus and nuance . I wonder if they ever thought how little time they truly had to bash down the frightening wonderful lights deep inside the stars and make them converge onto a page or was it all just benzedrine and LSD ? Doubtful. "What a long strange trip it's been". Sorry just thinking out loud...Hi Marge..pour the coffee, this one could take awhile..lol. I love the way you GET poetry. It shows in the honest wanting to pull the rabbit from the poem of every review you've ever granted me..amazing insight before you even get to the poetry...thank you for the kind words and as always ((Hugs)). Endless, beautiful California
((Hugs))~

[Perdition]

Sorry...I meant Margie..you may kill me now ;)

[barleygirl]

Since I was a math & science nerd (majored in engineering), I missed the part where all these artists, poets & writers have spent years studying other artists, poets, & writers. I started here 3 years ago with nothing to draw from, as far as examples of pursuing writing as a serious pastime. Your long spiel (above) reminds me of what I do not know, but also it helps me piece together the lives of other writers, so I can get a better picture of what has influenced their writing. I've even started reading some classic authors & poets, trying to remedy my nerdish perspective. But then again, I can never try to be like anyone else . . . as you well understand, the spirit from which I write is something I have no control over. It comes out the way it comes out, even when I have completely different plans for a piece of writing before I begin. I love your long thoughtful share (above). Don't feel that you need to make any meaningful noise in reviewing others . . . just share your delightful self with other writers . . . it shows us where we have touched a nerve & this is helpful, even if you don't feel like you have any coherent words of wisdom to offer, in a review! Anyhow, it's all good. Thanks for opening up (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[lightsong]

"in the search for Love".

This takes two parts for me, Your crying scream in the first two lines, shouting out from the depth the truer Truth, and I don't know how You did it in just these two ones, putting Love at its right place, boundless, faithfully timeless, then You took us with Your journey of Your lost Love and pain, of rising in Love and through pain, and here You are, still believing in Your first two lines, even though that You've walked alone without her, I feel this is about You rising up and up, while she is left behind because she doesn't want that, she wants to stay at a certain level, sometimes when You are a person who grows and grows, and never stop growing, it's hard to stay with someone who is not the same as You are, no matter how much You love them. fine reading full with emotions and depths. well done Joe!

[Perdition]

You are unbelievable...I will come back and write more about your king and wonderful review but just ran out of time...life huh..lol. For now just know how deeply wonderful it is to have a Light that sees in the dark. I shall be back. Thanks!!

[Perdition]

And back! Well, you absolutely nailed the first part as the opening always must be the flame that sparks and carries both poet and reader...the journey is where the challenge lies...especially when you are hoping to scale a mountain and write at an honest level..we all have our own wisdoms and stories but writing the two together while being kind to one another and also true to self is a fine line. Wonderful and not surprising at all to know you got all that. Now the final challenge is keeping it under seven thousand lines..lol. Hemingway had this story..quick story you may know...he asked a kid to pick a number between 1 and 10..the kid who was asking for his advice about writing, chose 6 (of course they were in a bar) after which Hemingway scribbled on this napkin .."For sale, Baby shoes never worn". that was his advice along with beginning with one true sentence..start there, It's connected to Hemingway now but actually just a good Papa story that predates him I believe . But still..the ole "less is more"..that is where it gets tough. But hey ..Look at "Howl" for crying out loud or Chaucer comes to mind..etc. Anyway Thank you Light! SO how are the Hippos coming along, still boiling in their tanks?

[lightsong]

nor I'm surprised at all, to see You vast wisdom and depths revealed here again, You hide them well behind Your lines, but one will eventually know that You have no limit, I think what You are trying to do while keeping that balance in writing is to respect others, You don't like to show like "look! I'm wise and I know much more than You do!" lol I have to trust You to know that You understand me here. now for the story, I need to know more about it, more details that are important to my mind. I have many animals in my closet, my Hippos escaped from there and yes still dancing in their tanks! interesting title You need to tell me what's the novel is about.

[Perdition]

A shared novel between Mr. Burroughs and Kerouac ...not their best and released after they died as was agreed. It's one of those books you just have to read then promise you will never do that again...hahaha. You could skip it and I would advise it unless you are a true "Beat Generation" fan...It is a true story but names are changed and facts are altered about the murder that seemed to kick off the whole Beat experience...Lucien Carr stabbed a gay overzealous friend in New York City and chucked him into the Hudson River... Kammerer I think that's the spelling of the stalking friend stabbed by Carr., and so forth. Not their best but some of Burroughs writing is pretty reminiscent of what comes later in his works. Don't do it..lol.

[lightsong]

are those the same writes You told me about before those whom got famous with their novel after they are dead? anyway thank You for saving my time and I assure You that I WON'T read it LOL