Houdini was an Aries like me. So was Charlie Chaplin.
Traditional straightjacket magic, magic of
A hop and fluster. I did not have magic—
Fire sign with no magic. I have no cape
With moons and shooting stars. Handcuffs
Stymie me. I cannot walk with my feet
Splayed. Yesterday, I sat on the porch Continue reading “April Magician”
Category: Poems
Poetry from Oklahoma
Stubborn
I am the blackjack oak
protecting herself
with a 2nd set of leaves.
If I’m shorn of one
by chance or natural
means
I will produce the other. Continue reading “Stubborn”
Morgana’s Instructions
You don’t need to love the old man.
Just move his boots out of the way
so neither of you trip over them.
Ask the cook to send the boy out
to find the leeks he likes the best.
Move the curtain on the bed a few
inches to one side, clip it there.
Turn away when he coughs
and the sputum slips out his mouth. Continue reading “Morgana’s Instructions”
Craig’s List Poetry: Ejecutive
Ejecutive
One minute I was attempting
To figure out email
And the next I was flying
Through the sky,
My bald head ringed
With acoustic ceiling tile, Continue reading “Craig’s List Poetry: Ejecutive”
The World You Outgrew
At 5:17, the coyotes end their run,
their cries circling in on each other,
a haunting cyclone of sound you never forget.
Sometimes the world you outgrew
reclaims you, surrounding you in its ever-ness.
Keep coming.
Keep coming closer.
If you have left anything behind,
you don’t need it.
If the darkness threatens to drown you,
remember what is there.
–Shaun Perkins
Story Old as Time
Lancelot
The apple trees are pregnant with misted fruit,
dangling like the locket holding your hair,
which I keep in memory of that pursuit,
lost in a love, without I cannot bear.
I have walked across the fields to find you.
I have shuttered my heart to the world’s gaze,
made ready the clasp for you to undo,
made still my heart that is yearning to blaze.
Where are those who still demand this is wrong?
Who see only betrayal, not love’s proof?
I contain operas, not just one song.
Love does not abide by a single truth.
Yes, I am joined to him and know my vows,
and I will love you as long as flesh allows.
Guenevere
–Shaun Perkins
Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry 