As lemongrass holds the river’s first shimmer of morning light, you possessme. Drifting in the marsh, my fingertips dipping in the water, like a luminous blue god, you have become an idea that I can no longer doubt without proving my devotion. Yes,you hold me, you hold me, you hold me as wood holds the frame of a house, or as iron […]
reflection
If I Were a Philosopher
You know, a rose is not beautiful It is a clump of organic matter pulled from the dirtTransform it into a symbol.Attend to it. Make it beautiful I am not a philosopher. I am just a boy in love. You have my attention. But you knew that already. George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included […]
Catacombs of Domitilla
Bones as mere decor. Stored in metallic ink, eachmorning, waking without a comparison point, folded intoa cast-iron pot, fragrant withcumin, and ripe with profaneadverbs, in the unvaccinated catacombs of Domitilla. 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 […]
Birding
Fragile, shalehands holdthe wombwilderness isbornThe CosmosWalleyed PikesJune nights andthe call of LoonsEverything thatwe need to dreamTo feelTo loveSo littleseparatesus from whatwe needThe nightyou werebornWearing the skin of GodThe worldwas bornMy new CosmosAnd by the timeit was writteneven Green Heronin the cool spring marshcould tell me George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been […]
A Moment in the Backyard
The way some fireflies hide within the obsidian grass, faking the blinking signals of cold heat, I waited for you to want my offerings,as badly as I wanted to givethem to you. Perhaps we shall soon understand why. 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 […]
The Mouth of a Tiger Lily 2
drawn from the soil forever, forced by the tamed winds to grow prostrate, there is a morbid hiddenness lurking inside 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 Morning […]
The Mouth of a Tiger Lily
Once drenched by ferocious rains, steeping in sealable, blood orange petals with dimples of peppercorn spots on the skin,in a milk pale vase, in a country kitchen in the falldrawn from the soil forever, forced by the tamed winds to grow prostrate, there is a morbid hiddenness lurking inside 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, […]
Wild Turkey
My father was one who best understood the shy verse of sawdust and steel.When he did speak, after aged bourbon by the charred pepper glow of campfire, his words would bring dryness to the dark, the way engine-oiled machine parts are ordered and arranged under the tongue. I listened. More than he knew. I saw how his words had shapes, how some of them circled through the air, […]
Distillation: 2
Having grown bored with wisdom, resting by an old fence of fist sized rocks, chalk whiteas baby powder, the young man leans back and shuts his eyes, recognizing the subtle earthiness of not knowinghow a few drops of water spins sugar nests from grain. 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. […]
Alone again
the scent of burnt cloves and saltwater sticking on her jeansShe thinks about roasting coffee that way but doesn’t. The ocean is restless. 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 […]