CORAZÓN MADURO*
Because I translate
Machado’s poem
instead of entering
I fail the afternoon
Jim Bodeen
16 March 2025
*Antonio Machado, “La Noria”
"EL MUNDO ES, UN MOMENTO..."
... el mundo es, un momento
transparente, vacío, ciego, alado
Antonio Machado
Pick up Machado
Late at night when sleep departs
Tender steely yes
Jim Bodeen
14 March 2025
ENCOUNTER AT ROCKY TOP
ENCOUNTER AT ROCKY TOP
It looks to me like
an old real estate sign
advertising houses.
How it got here
on The Walk and Roll Trail
is not a question
my grand daughter and I ask.
She's a photographer with a camera.*
This is the William O Douglass Trail
next to a garbage dump. You can
walk to Mt. Tahoma from here.
We turn this into a proscenium arch
and I smile for my grand-daughter.
The stage, exposed by her vision,
proves to be too small
for the world we’re walking into.
Amid the joy of first flowers,
the grandfather smile disappears.
Jim Bodeen
11 March 2025
*photos by S.M.
WONDROUS ORIGINS
WONDROUS ORIGINS
Renouncing revenge
and to let himself be led
The old man’s bloodwork
Each day about the same time
he turns compost with his spade
Jim Bodeen
11 March 2025
UNDERWATER RAIN
UNDERWATER RAIN
Baskets from your hand
Lazy birds thistle-scatter
Still water’s deep yes
Jim Bodeen
9 March 2025
BIRDS STOPPING BY OUTSIDE OUR WINDOW
BIRDS STOPPING BY OUTSIDE OUR WINDOW
Karen’s breathing dreams me to sleep
and I wake in a crumbling garden,
yes, there’s oatmeal with raisins,
apple and cinnamon—with toast
and strawberry freezer jam
we made together last summer
from Klicker’s strawberries
grown in Walla Walla down the road
Jim Bodeen
8 March 2025
YOU ARTISTS AND YOUR MOUNTAINS
YOU ARTISTS AND YOUR MOUNTAINS
--for m.l.
You paint the emperor’s portrait
in asbestos and glaze
his wine cup with lead
Stillness abides
Too early for grasshoppers
I turn the compost
Jim Bodeen
7 March 2025
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