When Silence Fails
It is almost exactly ten yearssince we shared drunken kissesin an unheated barin Chattanooga, Tennessee.Later that night, drunker still,a kiss … Read More “When Silence Fails”
Tag: death
In a Glasgow Street
two seagulls peck at dead pigeontwo pigeons stand watching Support Our Dharma Work
Death
opens as a lotus petal all at oncein all directionsunder the kind pressureof twilighta translucentblue topaz feelingdisappearing into an ancient softness George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has … Read More “Death”
Spreading Ashes in the Ausable
more coveted than winefrom milk, the masteralchemists of China coulddo no better than these cloudschurning into rivers, the way cottongrass renews itself or how a son returns in time to let go. … Read More “Spreading Ashes in the Ausable”
A Drowning
No one could save himonce he was lodged beneath the rapids.No one could breathe for himonce he was hauled onto … Read More “A Drowning”
Unsolicited Advice to the Class of 2020
Grip life the way a father holds his son’srib bone after a car bomb in a Baghdad market. Treat it … Read More “Unsolicited Advice to the Class of 2020”
Radiation from the Big Bang
Dear grandpa,I never met whopulled the trigger. They say that youhad enemies andit was the Depression, but who really knows?Your … Read More “Radiation from the Big Bang”
Whispering
Under a dying Sycamorea soft handsimply rises on my chestbringing something closeto comfortso lonely and satisfied. George Cassidy Payne is … Read More “Whispering”
Search and Rescue
petrified metaphors a crow filledmeadow a barrier like a riverboat looking upat the skyhidden fumesin the hysteria of extinctionsomewhere helicoptered away from the deltathose sharp edges likeshoulderbladesthe land of my … Read More “Search and Rescue”
Zen and the Art of Dying
I remember when the thought of dying became real to me. I was 24 years old, serving a tour of … Read More “Zen and the Art of Dying”