Disclaimer

This blog ran for more than two years with no graphics--and it received about 50 page views. I was advised to add graphics; after seeing the huge public that followed blogs dedicated to homoerotic images, I decided to use that kind. The result was a dramatically increased number of monthly page views, and the number has remained fairly steady. Most of the images were found on the internet; although they are assumed to be in the public domain, they are identified as far as possible. They are exhibited under the Fair Use protections of United States copyright law: their function is simply to attract readers to the poems--I receive no economic benefit from them or from the blog. Nevertheless, they will be removed if they are copyrighted and the owner so desires. 1260 x 290

POEMAS EN ESPAÑOL -- 2009: January 8, April 12, August 3 . . . . 2010: January 13 . . . . 2013: June 30, November 28, December 8 . . . . 2014: September 25, November 30 . . . . 2015: July 9, October 22 . . . . 2016: February 12, August 1, December 28 . . . . 2017: March 2, September 5 . . . . 2018: May 10, July 15, November 3 . . . . 2019: August 4, December 5 . . . . 2020: December 1 . . . . 2021: October 12, December 3 . . . . 2022: April 15, June 21 . . . . 2023: January 3, April 2, May 9, June 6.

Sunday, July 26, 2020

WHITTLING


 


       Speaking of tombstones, like you said,
       I don’t want one; it’s not just the cost, it’s . . .
       my philosophy of justice.

       To sink a stone slab at my head,
       engraved with dates and deeds 
       as if to render up accounts
       to any stranger that can read,
       would be to weight my spirit down
       when it ought to be most free.

       My old woman used to say,
       “People have expectations.
       It’s the basis of society.”

       That’s just how people are, you see.
       If they think they’ve known you,
       they think they own you.
       So even when you’re dead and gone,
       they still want to judge you on
       what you have and haven’t done.

       I’ll tell you a secret, though—one
       better kept than it should be—
       death is a release,
       from even a good life. 

       As for me, I’ve had all a man needs;
       I’ve had lovers; I had a wife;
       I have children I love, and they love me.

_____________________________




Image from thestar .com/travel/northamerica/article/1076911--resting-places-of-the-rich-and-famous


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