at least he rememberedthe salt-sprayed breezeon their patio in Red Bankthe patio with the pistachio greenumbrella, talking about the sailboatsand sipping raspberry-peach iced teawondering out loud… how a sunsetcould look so much like candle waxmelting on the floor of an old attica few drops of citrus oil was all it took George Cassidy Payne is […]
humanity
Proof
Beware of labelsthat claim to be handmade in small batchesBy humans, what isn’t?Is it good? Ask that instead.For God-sake is it any good? George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, […]
Gemini Reflections
Is the kind of manwho feels as if he will be apprehendedby the holy ghost at any momentThe kind of man who glimpses at himself20x a day in the mirrorjust to know he is thereyet shrinks awaywhile shaving George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram […]
Clocks
How long would the music be withoutseconds and minutes? The feeling of time is different.Put away your phones. Cover your watches.Eliminate all the telling devices. Play Japanese flutes. And ask how long the musicwill play for. How do you keep track? George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such […]
Spider Bite
a kissso patientstill in themoutha seedcrouching stinglessbuzzingcoveredwith pinkand emeraldbeadwork George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters have appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Havana Times, South China […]
NO
Frost on the ground,Condensation on the window.Maybe something brittlebroke along the way; I’ve learned there’s no such thingAs a perfect triangleAnd now there doesn’t seemThat much to say. Between seasons,Colours indistinct,Painted life in shadesNot quite of grey, No stone to be castBetween guilt and innocence,And now there doesn’t seemThat much to say. Water on the […]
To Leave Something Behind
is our first religion our most primeval ritual to be remembered by those who have beennearly forgotten is the holiest experience George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters have […]
Scene From a Shaker Cemetery
The unmarkedtombstones leavean impression The elemental needto tell someonethat you were hereThe same reason the cave people in Lascaux wrote on wallsThe eternal battle betweensimplicity and pride the primal urge to leave a markon the earth, and the spiritualquest to disappear entirely George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications […]
I Exist
I am garbagewhite trasha categoryother than my skin I am wastedall of the timewith the passing of the centuriesa fruitfly intriguedby love George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays […]
A Time of Survival
Carried in handwoven Amish wicker baskets from the root cellarlike pickled garlicsealed in mason jars with yellow Ginghamfabric toppersthe world needs poems. George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, […]