Friday, November 19, 2010

Halvard Johnson, "3 Poems"

Halvard Johnson


Bitter Ends

In Munich, things pretty much came
to a standstill, awaiting further
confirmation. Given recent developments,
including the unexpected non-renewal

of my contract, even the English
drew shorter straws than usual.
Flexibility and artistic vision, 

high levels of respect and a deep
affection, which may or may
not have been sincere.


Humoreske

Are we inside the frog or outside? To say the least,
it makes for diverse and enjoyable living.
Just off the road to

wherever it was we were going,
very few poets, reading over
your shoulder. Transformed pre-trance

formations, the first I’d ever
heard of. Natural dis-
inclinations.

Marginally pond-bound
exceptional infur-
iations.


Meditation F

Bums with religion, found
all over the world, notable
for their absence, abandoned

hillsides. On safari in deepest
Pennsylvania, cars running
on wheels of Samsāra.

Synthetic revisions dashed
off amid personal drift. Time
to step on the gas, if you

have the heart to. The road
to Altoona, as good a place
as any to be lightened up.
_____

Halvard Johnson for many years taught overseas in the European and Far East divisions of the University of Maryland, mostly in Germany and Japan.  He currently lives in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico.  His most recent collection of poetry is Mainly Black from Vida Loca Books.
_____
RECONFIGURATIONS: A Journal for Poetics & Poetry / Literature & Culture, http://reconfigurations.blogspot.com/, ISSN: 1938-3592, Volume 4 (2010): Emergence

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