"putrefaction," by Charles Bukowski

"No Leaders, Please," by Charles Bukowski

"After God," by Tim Peeler

"Silence," by Langston Hughes

".9 [The Kiss Poem]," by e.e. cummings

"Karma Repair Kit, 1-4," by Richard Brautigan

Wislawa Szimborska

Wislawa Szimborska, the Polish poet and Nobel Laureate, has died, age 88.  Bless her. What a splendid writer. An obituary:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/books/wislawa-szymborska-nobel-winning-polish-poet-dies-at-88.html

A recording of a poem:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92dakW05yGs

"Alone With Everybody," by Charles Bukowski

And On Forever

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And On Forever


A brisk wind blowing
across a high mountain
meadow continues
after I imagine it, after
I die. It goes on and on
forever in that place.


Copyright 2012

Ghosts Are Comfortable

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Ghosts Are Comfortable


When ghosts want to take a break
from ghosting, they sometimes visit
my place. They know I won't
expect anything from them--

not fright, news, melodramatic
Hamlet-crap, or broken dishes.

To be a ghost is to be
a permanent yearning.
It takes a lot of energy.
I've always understood
that about ghosts--
how hard they work.


Copyright 2012 Hans Ostrom

Fact and Miracle

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Fact and Miracle

The sun stays on
all the time. What
is the difference
between a fact
and a miracle?

I wonder how many
people around
this world tonight are
looking for proof of something.

If you are reading
this, then you are
alive, and that is
excellent news. What's
the difference between
a fact and a miracle?


Copyright 2012 Hans Ostrom

"Changed," by Henry Wadworth Longfellow

HOW NOVELS BEGIN: Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck