National Poetry Month Poems by Christopher Luna
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| Freight train graffiti by Christopher Luna |
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| The Path by Christopher Luna |
GHOST TOWN, USA
Burnt Bridge Creek Trail
March/April 2020
What irked me
about my neighbor was—They didn’t know what to do. She’s definitely—she’s definitely a character. She’s
done a lot. I have some friends that are pretty spiritual. I think they’re
laughing at each other. The people or the birds? It was nice to hear that I was
a good communicator. What’s gonna be interesting is when everything opens up.
I’m overdue for a haircut and my dog needs groomed. Don’t chew on
that. You make it how you want it.
“You
certainly are a star in my heart”
Jenny Suzumoto
Email
from poet and tarot reader Jenny Suzumoto, April 2, 2020: “Thank you so much
for your uplifting note. You have utterly brightened my day! So I picked a card
for you – the Star, a card of revelation, meditation, illumination, and
lustrous honoring of the Self. The Goddess shines her luminous sweet love to
you. This is a good time to lift upward, and contemplate the cosmic wonder of
life, the mystery, the infinite creative force, that goes on forever and ever
and ever. An uplifting focus beyond the crisis, and CNN news. Creation
continues to explode in crescendos, generate rainbows, sparkling stars, and
galaxies, on and on and on. A lovely card to nurture self, and feel into the
star of your own beautiful heart.”
Goddess may I join you?
dancing barefooted in
a field full of wildflower
rippling
joyfully
unselfconsciously
in diaphanous
sundress
overcome by your beauty
& your innate strength
I move alongside you
hoping to catch your eye
the glimmer there
the warm invitation
of your smile
& am transported
to the moment
years ago
when I first discovered
the coursing white light
exploding from the core of me
to send branches of tendrils
streaming forth in every direction
connecting me to all things
and them to me
Goddess love me
embrace me
show me how to be
the star in your heart
April 8, 2020
SKIN HUNGER BLUES
The endless search
for the perfect word
the precise choice
a sigil with the weight
to convey
the roiling hunger of
this skin
the loneliness
of the human heart
dying without the reassurance
of a hand upon our flesh.
April 9, 2020
PREMILLENIALIST
JACKPOT
Some motherfuckers may not admit
that this is the apocalypse they prayed
for
complete with AntiChrist
you got your plague
your anarchy
collapse of civilization
except there won’t be
no RAPTURE
no WHITE JESUS
coming for to
carry them home
April 10, 2020
WALKMAN REVERIE
What music do I turn
to
reflexively
in times of
trouble:
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| https://www.ledzeppelin.com/ |
PHYSICAL GRAFFITI
the first Led
Zeppelin cassette
to accompany me on
my paper route
delivering Newsday
in Ridge
on the Long Island
of my boyhood—
Kashmir
In My
Time of Dying
Custard
Pie
Boogie
with Stu
Houses
of the Holy
“on the wings of maybe”
my fantasies of a life beyond
the dreadful ennui of the
suburbs
did
take flight
April
11, 2020
FOR TONI
who suggested we
write love poems to each other
after reading Kenneth
Patchen’s poems for Miriam
When I see my sweet little cupcake smile
I want to be the reason for all that joy
The man who can see the little girl in
saddle shoes
And brings her the moon because
the Queen of All
My Dreams deserves it
let’s dance
and make love
and laugh
and argue
and discuss the state of the world
and kiss
and hold hands
and read poems to each other
savoring
each and every
present
moment we have
before
our cells betray us
April 12, 2020
“ALL THE HOTTEST
ACTION AND
MOST VALUABLE
LESSONS WILL BE
BLOOMING IN THE
FERTILE DARKNESS”
Rob Brezsny, Free
Will Astrology
(Virgo horoscope,
week of April 9)
the soul is a tough one for me
born with a skepticism
as undeniable as breathing
still, the search never moves
in a linear
direction
empathy may be impossible
when our very existence
is in question
our
worth so diminished
by capitalism & language hijacking
slowly eradicating once-understood ideals
time to turn toward reality again
these countless corpses [become]
cradles
of compassion
when we function on a belief
that we’re all together
The soul is a
tough one for me.
Steve Getlein.
Never moves in a
linear direction.
Suzanne LaGrande.
Countless corpses
becoming cradles of compassion. Sarah Wood.
We function on a
belief. We’re all together. Wynton Marsalis, interviewed by 60 Minutes about the death
of his father, jazz musician and educator Ellis Marsalis.
April 13, 2020
AN ENDLESS LUCID DREAM
SURVIVES BEHIND MY EYELIDS
Angela Douglass
hypnagogic
phantasmagoria
tendrils
of color undulate
in Jackson
Pollock ecstasy
the myoclonic
twitch
of a
thousand kisses
upon the
eyelashes
stirs as
long-ago
sleights
&
victories
replay
on a
somnolent
stage
threatened
always
by the
interruption
of encroaching
daylight
cascading
stars
implode
in
reverse time lapse
leaving
immense darkness
in their
wake
Christopher
Luna
April
14, 2020
Poem Beginning & Ending
With Lines by Leah Klass
“we are all running to something”
even when forced by circumstance
to be still
indoors, at home
with all the time necessary
to turn inside out
to examine who and what
you truly are—
beyond commerce
beyond the tasks
you so dutifully complete
for the benefit of Your Master
as terrifying as
facing yourself
for the first time can be
it is important to see
that this time with yourself
may seed a radical transformation
personal evolution
& possibly even liberation
“joy is our ticket”
April 15, 2020
I have suppressed the content
Paula John
of this nightmare
in order to survive
the daily shit show
of a country
with a madman in charge
babbling fool
thief
rapist
bully
hater of all not rich
and//or white
turn off his daily campaign ad
billed as press briefings
the man has no ideology
no love of country
he seeks only to annihilate
all that is good
go outside
check on your
more vulnerable neighbors
we will need to be united
to fight what comes next
Christopher Luna
April 16, 2020
there will be
another
this into
that
assume that
half of what
you think
about it is
bullshit
and you may
become
clear enough
to actually
see
April 18, 2020
THE QUESTION OF
READINESS
These are not easy times.
Every illusion fractures
as the context floats away
& one is faced with what remains:
deep fear
a lot of pain
the self
(such as it is)
It may have been some time
since you were acquainted
or
it may be the first time
you’ve met—
do you like what you see?
April 19, 2020
Can I have some remedy?
I take enough to please me
Black Crowes
we
need each other
infuriating
as that may be
we
will not make it alone
vulnerability
is not voluntary
it is
our most natural state
this
plant carries
magical
properties
medicine
for the
mind,
body, & soul
so
open your heart
breathe
deep
we
shall begin
again
April 20, 2020
throwing the remote
pout
like that again
&
I’ll bite you
hard
suck
on it
til I’m
full
then
devour you
whole
consumed
by
this
compulsion
to
swallow it all
want
you inside me
slide
down my throat
course
through
no
question
regarding
our
connection
furthermore
I want
to be loved
nay,
adored
no
amount
will
ever
suffice
they
always told me
I
could have
anything
I
wanted
&
you’re
next
April
21, 2020
What makes an individual valuable?
Barbara Lynn Cantone
How does one measure it?
How to properly respect our complexities
the fractal web of our
many contradictions?
Does a person’s value increase according to
our knowledge of their actions?
There is so much we never see.
Close your eyes: envision the enemy
make a list of your judgments
Would your choices survive
the same scrutiny?
Is your conscience clear?
Have you managed to make it this far
without hurting anyone?
without making any mistakes?
Can you let go of their
imagined transgressions?
April 22, 2020
The Pulse of the
Poem Licks the Page in Syncopated Time
steel
type swings down with force
enough
to strike through the aching emptiness
of
the blank sheet in repose
enough
to cause the page to ripple
with
a quiver, then allow you to
flip
her over
trembling
in anticipation
of
the next offering
the
impression of a thousand sigils
dripping
in reverse
these
leaves of grass
yawp
as they reverberate
with
the promise of the dawn
April
24, 2020
WE
NEED EXTRA MORE
For Coraline Luna
upandcoming poet
I want more
extra more
extra more smiles
love
hugs
empathy
understanding
extra more
will see us through
our time of separation
the tactile
& the tangible
the touched
& the felt
the solidarity
borne of our
solitude
and the daily
reminder
of our need for
each other
stay safe
stay cool
stay home
dream of extra more
good times ahead
April
25, 2020
Poem Beginning
& Ending
with Wisdom From
Ai Wei Wei
“How to escape the
common daily burden:”
relax
think
pick up materials
assemble something
that did not exist
before you
conceived of it
a made thing that
could have no
origin
other than your
heart
your mind
your spirit
step back
become audience
smile ingratiated
pleased with
yourself
moments later
doubt &
dissatisfaction
inevitably creep
back
& your endless search
for
meaning
your eternal agony
is rekindled
just a human
consumed by
yearning &
vision
“still trying
to escape control”
April 26, 2020
DYSMORPHIA DILEMMA
what
combination
of
arrogance
&
denial
makes
it
impossible
to see
just
how
enormous
I have
allowed
myself
to
become?
wherefore
this
sickness
that
convinces me
that
what I see
reflected
is
acceptable?
Christopher
Luna
April
27, 2020
PANDEMIC
POETRY PARADOX
Although personal expression
is my vocation
I feel a visceral
reluctance to mentioning
the blessing of my
living situation:
a partner who loves me
cares for me
enjoys my company
enough to fantasize
about me staying
home
permanently
in this era of
unquestioned oversharing
wouldn’t it be cruel
to be too candid
about my good
fortune?
Christopher
Luna
April 28, 2020
YOUR PRESIDENT
wants you
dead
infected
veins
filled
with
disinfectant
starving
destitute
intubated
suffering
because
you
ignored
the scientists
in
favor of
the
thug
who
daily
destroys
our
democracy
your president
not
mine
April
29, 2020
WE WON’T
SOON FORGET
the Spring we
stayed inside
to stay alive
alone together
staring at screens with a desperate need
for answers or good news
writing, sobbing,
worrying
waiting for
the nightmare
to end
paying for the sins
of the corrupt
and the willfully
ignorant
April 30, 2020
