Poetry Slam 

between Klaus J. Gerken

and Maria Jacketti

December 2014


*


Give me a December
and another 
and still one more.
All will return eventually
espcially
my summers.

(transl. kjg 417am 1 dec 2014)


Prestatemi un Dicembre
e poi ancora uno … 
e un altro ancora.
Restituirò tutto
e in più tutte
le mie estati.

-- Rita Stilli

*


Cotton candy grapes:
Papa’s beard washed
In sweet wine

MJ 1 Dec 2014

*


slam! 

why do people slam their doors
it's so inconsiderate
to be aware of others
is to have respect
but some just live in a world of their own
as if it didn't matter
their small lives seem to be a rage
againt their alma mater!

kjg 1042pm 1 dec 2014

*

Compassion

Pupil says: Today is a holy day,
I will spare a life and kill tomorrow.
Master lopped off his head.
No reason to wait if compassion is not absolute.

kjg 708am 2 dec 2014


*

Holiday Rag

Time for him to shoot off his mouth
(Is that possible?  I mean to actually
Shoot off his mouth?)
Shut your mouth, I try.
Put a gun in your pie hole, Buddy
And shoot turkey gravy,
With A squirt gun of course,
A baguette or a dick in his mouth
Would work maybe, we are pacifists,
But not quite,
Gag him, tie him up, tie his tongue
In quipu, broom closet banish him,
Put him on a rocket to Mars,
And tell him, despite it all, how very much
We love him.

MJ 12/2/14


*


into light out of the shadow

i was walking along the road and there i found it
a pathway to the open sky where the horizon knew no bounds
there was hope and it was quite secure and no one turned away
i was walking i was singing without a care
a gentle breeze caught my ease and guided me to where i knew
fate was waiting in the hands of what was there beyond me

don't you think there's something there beyond us
that will guide us in the dark
we can search forever to find what it is
but without a guide there is only shadow

i was walking down a road to something greater
and the crowds just stood aside and jeered and laughed
they don't understand they won't lend a hand

when you find that something there beyond you
you will find a new beginning
and somehow someway you will find the future
that guides you into light out of the shadow

kjg 437pm 2 dec 2014

*

dichotomy

how could you be so gullible
i was trying to address the situation
i'm sure you had the odd flight attendant
in the airport or the transit station
you were a solution no one wanted
it was raining but that was classified information
as a spider crawls along the wall to weave his web
you crawled into my life to make an indentation
she sighed she was pleased she lied
she knew he would rather leave than face his obligation

it wasn't like that at all
you know it but that didn't meet your expectation
the thunder rolled and the night was a raging storm
you pretended it was something of an exaggeration
i was caught in a rouse of madness
but you wouldn't hear of any other explanation
and speak of spiders who collects the web of its intrigue
there is nothing that reclaims a failed relation
so he sighed he was pleased he lied
he knew she would rather leave than face her obligation

kjg 745pm 2 dec 2014

*

Holly Gets a Rainbow for Her 15th Birthday
	
Moon Jewel,
my applehead Siamese
sits in a rainbow conjured
by a window prism, her blue-point,
now encompassing every color of
light in fleeting tattoo
for she has earned each band of 
the rainbow:
 queen
of her own time, reflecting
every shade of forever

MJ 12/3/14

*

Anniversary

Three decades like a
Three layer cake, a three-stepped
Pyramid, I climb to the top
To scream “Here I am,”
And embrace the heavens.
The North Star falls into my
Mouth, a bubblegum jawbreaker –
I could never make a bubble,
But this time I make an orb,
Inside it a woman exhorts me to breathe,
And I see that it is my baby inside,
Eternally grown up.
The bubble carries me across the earth
And through storms and oceans rising –
Along the way, cats jump onto my shoulder –
When the bubble gets shabby, their purrs
Hold me high.  Seven angels gather at my 
Party with gifts:
The first one brings a chandelier of soul parts,
The second brings a lyre, cheese, and olives
And singing lessons;
The third brings, summer in a snow-globe,
The fourth brings a coconut tree that will grow
Even flourish in every type of snow;
The fifth brings a farm and an emerald deed;
The sixth brings cameras and miracles;
The seventh brings peace.
This is an alchemist’s marriage: fall on
Us, blue apples, neigh.

MJ 4 Dec 2014

*

A night light
pierced his sleep.
And the dream woke.

There was no time
to experience pain.
Before him, lay
incredulity.

I wanted to believe ...
And for you to follow ...
sleepwalker poised on the
rooftops of Ponente.

Outstretched hands
rejecting the dark.
I woke on the summit
of reality.

Before me
was your silence
and your outstreached hands.
Closed.
Cruel enigma.

I'll never know
which hand
held the East!

-- Rita Stilli

transl. kjg 541pm 4 dec 2014


Una notte di luce
trafisse il sonno.
Ed il sogno si destò.

Non ci fu tempo
per avvertire il dolore.
Prima di lui, giunse
l’Incredulità.

Volevo credere ...
E ti segui ...
sonnambula in bilico
sui tetti di Ponente.

Le mani protese
a respingere il buio.
mi destai in vetta
alla realtà.

Davanti a me
il tuo silenzio 
e le tue mani protese.
Chiuse.
Enigma crudele.

Non saprò mai
in quale mano
stringevi l’Oriente !

-- Rita Stilli

*

Afternoon

Getting dark outside. 
Snow's in the air. 
Cats are asleep. 
All is quiet here.

kjg 330pm 5 dec 2014 

*

Cultured

he travels to italy
and eats pizza and spaghetti
he travels to france
and orders hamburger and
french fries (he's in
france after all!)
he travels to england
and doesn't know what to order
"they're so strange over there
they have nothing we eat here"
he travels to las vegas and says
"what a fantastic place! 
they have delicious food 
from all over the world!"

kjg 550pm 5 dec 2014

*

Freezing rain,
Her slapstick skating
From car to front door
Suddenly feels 
On the brink old

MJ 12/5/14


*

Good-bye, Joseph

On the verge of freezing,
The teardrop rain
Grey dribbles of peace water
Like the grey rain,
I am neutral to your words,
And if need be, I will drink them
Like this rain, and have my thirst
Also become neutral.
Good-bye. Blessed be all your lives.
 
MJ 5 Dec 2014

*

Life in an apartment building

brace yourself
the guy who
slams his door
at a hundred
and
twenty five decibels
is on the way
up to his apartment

ouch!

and that is
your three AM
wake-up call!

kjg 317am 7 dec 2014

*







































******

Published by Ygdrasil Press
Copyright (c) Klaus J. Gerken and Maria Jacketti 2014