Tag Archives: John MacKenzie

Looking for Lilacs

Posted on Monday, June 5th, 2017 2:02 pm by John MacKenzie

June 5—butter stays Hard on the table— I’d go looking for lilacs— If I could find my long johns

Posted in Climate Change, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, Lilacs, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Science, Tanka, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In Such Hollow Stems

Posted on Wednesday, May 25th, 2016 10:04 am by John MacKenzie

Someone must sit for months, Dandelions, Every year In some greenhouse, Never sleeping, Spending the nights keeping All the glass gleaming— Polishing it With ragged leaves gathered in autumn And endless gallons of starshine And moonlight That pour anew Nightly … Continue reading →

Posted in Delusional thinking, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Religion, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This Way and That

Posted on Wednesday, May 11th, 2016 11:42 am by John MacKenzie

I’m not here to tell you just how the days must flow. They will flow as they will, as water down any grade; Not because it seeks a slope but because one is there. And the stream is dark in … Continue reading →

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May, Clumsy as Always

Posted on Tuesday, May 10th, 2016 3:59 pm by John MacKenzie

May fumbled slowly Through another night last night Against dark, cold earth The first magnolia opened I know I heard silk tearing

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The Writing on the Wall

Posted on Sunday, May 1st, 2016 1:02 pm by John MacKenzie

Looking for a virgin, Who you gonna call? What god’s got the virginest Virgins of all? You can find his number On the bathroom wall— The pimpest pimp in Pimptown— For a good time, call Allah.  

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Take it to the Bank, Cassandra

Posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2016 2:23 pm by John MacKenzie

Downtown in April From high in a ragged spruce In the bank’s back lot Like an unheeded alarm A fledgling crow’s lonely squawk

Posted in Capitalism, Corporate Capitalism, Crows, Delusional thinking, Hunger, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, Malnutrition, Micropoetry, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Political Commentary, Poverty, Protest poems, Social Commentary, Spring, Tanka | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As It Ever Was

Posted on Monday, April 18th, 2016 3:26 pm by John MacKenzie

As children and as teenagers It was brother Robert could take Everything apart. Was also The one able to put it all Back together. Or, if needed, Make something new and workable From the pieces. Head bent, molars Grinding slow, you … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Art is theft, Autobiographical, Cliches, Consciousness, Cryptomnesia, Epistemology, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, Memory, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Sonnet, South Shore, The Brain, Time, Tropes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Until I Swept

Posted on Sunday, April 17th, 2016 5:13 pm by John MacKenzie

I went looking for another Poem for you. I searched everywhere: In the tang of marshes open To the sea; in the billowing Clouds spread across a winter sky; In the neck of a blue heron, Curved, questioning water. I … Continue reading →

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Against Hope

Posted on Friday, April 15th, 2016 4:14 pm by John MacKenzie

I look at the apple tree in spring And see how the blossoms fade and fall. I look again in summer and see How the fruit of its early promise Now bend thin branches under their weight. And in autumn … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple Blossoms, Art is lies, Art is theft, Biology, Cliches, Delusional thinking, Epistemology, Evolution, Evolutionary Psychology, Hunger, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, Malnutrition, Neuroscience, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Political Commentary, Poverty, Protest poems, Religion, Science, Social Commentary, The Brain, Time | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bartender’s Views

Posted on Monday, April 11th, 2016 4:32 pm by John MacKenzie

A shock of black hair combed back, thick, a bit oily. Heavy in the shoulders and chest, widening waist. The kinda fella always looks like he’s about Two minutes away from wearing a turtleneck. But born with a deformity, guess … Continue reading →

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The Glasses and the Plates and the Silverware (poems from old notebooks [August? 1992])

Posted on Sunday, April 10th, 2016 2:25 pm by John MacKenzie
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West Point, Once Upon a Time

Posted on Friday, April 8th, 2016 4:55 pm by John MacKenzie

An old brown dog of no particular breed Lay in the shade with his tongue hanging out. In a sprawl of poplar behind the barn A cat’s ears flattened, scolded by swallows. Late July, and the western capes crumbled In … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Art is theft, Autobiographical, Couplets, Cryptomnesia, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, Memory, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, South Shore, Summer, Tide, Time, West Point | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In the Spring Ditches

Posted on Sunday, April 3rd, 2016 11:39 am by John MacKenzie

And now springtime comes Casting its green illusions As the south wind gasps The pussy willows waver In damn ditches already

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Theology

Posted on Sunday, March 27th, 2016 11:39 am by John MacKenzie

These gods you chase into the gaps? Nothing. Nothing between atoms. Nothing under the bed.

Posted in Astrophysics, Atheism, Cinquain, Cosmology, Delusional thinking, Desperation, Epistemology, Evolutionary Psychology, Fanaticism, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, Micropoetry, New poems, Physics, Poem tweets, Poetry, Religion, Science, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Long Dark

Posted on Sunday, March 20th, 2016 5:37 pm by John MacKenzie

The Long Dark* At night, on the lake, The ice becomes a steel drum Rapid, thready pulse Counterpoints a wolf’s tenor Saxophone wavering near *Everything is writing fodder. The Long Dark is a survival videogame set in the northern Canadian … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Art is theft, Creativity, Hinterland Studio, Hunger, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, Micropoetry, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Process, Tanka, Video games, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When the Magnolia Stands in the Wind

Posted on Thursday, March 17th, 2016 11:39 am by John MacKenzie

When the sun comes up in the morning On some ragged green day in May The magnolia will open its blossoms, Plant its fragrance square in your way. You’ll stand there with your bare face hung out As you realize … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Art is theft, Biology, Chemistry, Death, Delusional thinking, Epistemology, Evolution, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, Magnolias, Memory, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Quatrains, Science, Skepticism, Spring, Time | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

While the Wind Tangles Your Hair

Posted on Monday, March 14th, 2016 3:07 pm by John MacKenzie

I want to sit with you in the shade While the wind tangles your hair Listening to you talk of things that exist Listening to you talk about the spectrum The spectrum on which things are portrayed The arbitrary nature … Continue reading →

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Fieldstone Dislodged by A Plow

Posted on Wednesday, March 9th, 2016 4:37 pm by John MacKenzie

You’re tired and the world Tastes daily of death. Out here in the field The crows and gulls pry Into the furrows Crumbling behind you. You’re tired and the world Talks daily of death. Behind you the crows And gulls … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Art is theft, Death, Dutch elm disease, Elms, Hunger, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, Memory, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Poverty, The Brain, Time | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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Posted on Friday, March 4th, 2016 11:39 am by John MacKenzie

How often in March Counting the lengthening thaws Between ice and snow Do you listen for wild geese Straining against the moon’s weight?

Posted in Art is lies, Art is theft, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, Language, Micropoetry, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Spring, Tanka, The Moon, The Sky, Time, Tropes, Wild Geese, Wild Geese in Spring | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Face of Allah

Posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2015 11:49 am by John MacKenzie

I could not find the face of Allah In the debris of mountain slides, In blue fragments of mosaics, In the desolation of stars fallen behind The ground-down blade of the moon. I heard rumours he spoke in many voices … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Art is theft, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Atheism, Cosmology, Death, Desperation, Fanaticism, Islam, John MacKenzie, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Religion, Social Commentary, The Earth, The Moon, The Sea, The Sky, The Wind | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment