September Selections 1 & 2

September Selection #1

The Animal Realm

Reflexive rapture when he saw her first,
And sudden shudder: he was incomplete.
He lost her forever on the crowded street.
Now forever she's the engine that drives his thirst.
So the upward thrust has been reversed:
Consciousness itself is in retreat.
Repeat the loss, repeat, repeat, repeat
Of her in him for whom the whole was cursed.
From a distance he never sees her in a blur.
She's the jewel pure, teaching clear
He's thrown aside the common life to hold.
Joy-blind, led by the scent of her
To a land empty, windswept and austere,
Through songs of love he shivers against the cold.

--Dan D'Agostino

September Selection #2

rain falls gently
on men cutting grapes
damp drops trickle & seep
( go, go, go )
into clusters
into clothes and eyes

stained-dark hands strain
(go, go, go)

in the core of the sweet ripe fruit
spores open their eyes
- - and acres and tons to go -

go, go, go -

-- Deanna Hopper