joe edwardson 

a college student from Minot, North Dakota, who organizes poetry readings and writing workshops, writes and produces digital music poetry recordings. has taken upon a mission to help spread the joy of poetry and the scrutinizing of man to the furthest reaches of earth (and then go to other planets to live). qavei@yahoo.com

so very eager to

was as if covered by hacks

the head of so many fumbled heroes

with booze anaesthetic and gut

kicked in; the gradual forgetfulness of

followers; the loss of flowers.

so very eager to

ride the next two-seat

bicycle of assassination.

was as if sniffed

the scent of leaves

falling on her gun;

these are sly indulgences.

ah, the way her veil sings

a stoneface revolution.

so very eager to

show how she shoots

arrows at superheros.

Dreaming of You in a Door

I saw myself watching myself

keyhole, eye to my eye

you are caught within these door fibers.

a construction

a creation

from when we never held hands

under our oak tree summer.

I would have fed you blueberries

if blueberries were real.

In this keyhole,

the darkness watches you

in turning the doorknob

dreams the smell and the static

of our home, the fireplace,

our crackling rug of color flowers.

It's so quiet;

I can hear your rivers trickling

from outside the door.

Owl / Mouse

What shapes come out at night?

Stargaze * (one star) <-------

---( on a string, lessen slack

connecting --- mind ‘n light

      Snow owl. (*^*)

      listen for the mouse

      ~tshtsh~ … ~tshtsh~

silent headspin,

soft feathers

       tension

in nature, predatory O^O eyes: lock (+)

rodent intuition of something

      WRONG ! ~TSHTSH~

      SCATTER SCATTER

and in one moment

(one star) ___ lessens its slack

on the snow owl

      |||soar|||

          ||||

           ||

>>> velocity of a sharp beak >>>

tightens nature’s music strings

        to a final frequency.

the mouse runs swift circles

increasing the heart of the tiny drumbeat

eyes spin frenetic searchings * (one star)

       ..... [!]^[!]

snow owl stings low

flies away * stargazing *

      feeling [~] flow calm of life

      full belly

and lands on a branch__________

I find:

I was always the kid who’d lose wrestling matches

to his life-size stuffed teddy bear

just to be nice.

The Questioning Scent of Fish

I touch the red vibrating brick walls,

gaze at flying calico cat

through broken glass;

shards rain on my arm.

A scent of fish

questioningly swims through the air.

I hear prayers racing through the mouths

of mad children.

I linger on that questioning

scent of fish sent forth through this

whirlwind of confusion. Crying constantly,

I cannot find a way

to crawl away from fish.

Fearfully crying, crawling, trying

to escape this:

This questioning scent of fish.

The Old Man I

The old man

with a blank stare

sits in an old chair;

he just sits there

and sits there and

shifts his stare

toward scuffed boots.

The Old Man II

The man in the chair

With gray hair

And a vacant stare

Has torn clothes

And wrinkled skin.

His boots are scuffed.

The Old Man III

...he just sits there

and sits there and

sits there and...

gar bijart is tree

We rummage through garbage art of

yesterday's forgotten frenzies.

discarded materialism: an alarm clock

but its time has stopped

children broke this clock

as mother overslept:

They missed their T-ball game.

Friends missed them.

But they played on.

mom awoke

in apology

anger

apathy

gar bijart is tree.

rearranged materials to weld,

paint, and glue

together in a new beauty

producing a more natural world

from the form and hue

of yesterday's blinking eyecatchers:

advertisements of a better digital

life of tomorrow.

Let's awake, eat

dress,

work,

buy,

sleep, beep beep.

Take it from the top.