Third Place Winner, November 2001 InterBoard Poetry Competition

Poetry

Filed In:

Poetry

InterBoard Poetry Competition

Third Place Winner, November 2001

SERENDIPITOUS
Joseph Carcel
(MiPo Zine & Board)

1. Halvah Girl

My halvah girl, with sweet apocalypse
and almond eyes, wrapped round my kindled soul
bids that I savor honey sesame.
I call her with my heated kisses and,

a taunting mockingbird, she trills.
I'm more and less than what you want of me
my sugars grown as rich as marzipan.

2. In the Watermelon Pavilion

Her lies could fill
museums of endless halls,
in each a single guide
to shade the friction
of her wit. Here is

the watermelon pavilion,
that soothes with shades of green
and woman's oils. A helmut carapace
shields all that's soft. Run
your hand across the servile curves but know

The grass is not immune to pissing dogs.

3. Imam

Creped in his final black

and sipping a horchata,
the giant, though friend of labials,
posits metaphysical punishments.

He shudders to reveal them
by transiting electron, fearing
that the the FBI confuse
his good intentions

with mere free speech.
Meet him on the street, though, and he'll share
his wisdom over a tamal(e) and corona beer;
no email would suffice

to explicate what dances in his brain,
of severance and dentistry
reserved for the gangly man who limps,
lips farting bogus fatwa.

4. The Prom

no time to cry
hello or say
that sky is fallen,
the chickens peck
out wishing seeds.

darkened in their shadows,
trees no longer reaching
water or for sun,
their wood creaks
into kindling.

lonely moisture rises into steam,
dancers swirl through bare
ripped gowns that float above
unnoted ballrooms, creped gymnasiums.

5. Physics

I sit upon the carved stump
of what's left of chaos, filled with joy's
contempt for meandering complexity, a throne
from which eyes can meander,
across the plain, out
to the horizon
where the boats
fall off.

6. Two Sarahs

Talk to the two girls named Sarah.
Tell them you'll take them

to Lake Cuomo,
even though you know
there's no such place

except in their romantic
minds. Tell them yes
of course to their every query

you'll find that at least
one of them won't mind
that you tell them anything
to please them, set
their waters flowing
like waves that press for your saving

shore, hugging
to your contours,
seeking ships of any flag.

My heart has always burned to whiter heat
but such combustion
has made it small.

Judge Joan Houlihan's comment: “Sensuous, lyrical and carefully executed love poem full of interesting and suprising turns and sentiments. Each section carries its own weight as well as adding to the overall momentum and flow of the narrator's thoughts and visions. Sophisticated use of diction; love the way it effortlessly slips in and out of different tones of voice in the reflections. Fantastic ending.”