Poetry

h heyerlein photo

By

Ricky Garni

Puschkinia Libanotica

I know a flower that looks just like Pushkin

as he stands upon carpets of pretty little pale silvery blue

six-petalled flowers in mid-spring.

His bones, that is, the flower’s bones, are hardy;

his bulbs, tiny; he grows quickly from seed and dies

young like a young Pushkin might die as young Pushkin did.

But for now he is at home in a rock garden or semi-wild drifts of grass.

He is happy in his nature. He owns a pen and writes upon rock

like a flower might who in a way is Pushkin. Ah, Pushkin –

So close to Pushkin, you want to pluck him from the ground

and bring him home to your love who you love so much

who isn’t you –

I hope you do.

Mercy For The Lobster

I never threw a lobster into a pot of boiling water

and so I should go to heaven for being a compassionate person

but I never threw a lobster into a pot of boiling water because

I knew what a lobster looked like before you threw him in

boiling water and he looked angry and robust and resentful

and mightier than a copper lid on a pot on a hot stove so that

doesn’t mean I should go to hell it just means I am right back

where I started as I stood in a field one day picking dandelions

wondering what would become of me in a story I wrote to make

myself feel better about the person I am and where a person such

as I should go – which is what the story was about and why we write

stories too – why do we write stories? Someone will ask me someday

I hope if I am famous for story writing – mostly because of things like

lobsters, we write them, I will tell him, and also, for lobster-like things.

Ricky Garni

Ricky Garni has worked over the years as a teacher, wine merchant, musician, and graphic designer. He began writing poetry in 1978, and has produced over thirty volumes of prose and verse since 1995. His work can be found in many online publications, print magazines and anthologies and he has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize on seven occasions. COO, a tiny collection of short prose printed on college lined paper with found materials such as coins, stamps, was recently released by Bitterzoet Press.