Whirling with Alberto
Each vignette begins with a phrase culled from “The Night Would Grow Like a Telescope Pulled Out” by Arizona Poet Laureate Alberto Álvaro Ríos
~~ 1 ~~
hear only the sounds
coming from torture chambers—
souls in deep distress
~~ 2 ~~
brown lips and thin tongues
still strong enough to lust for
things they dare not say
~~ 3 ~~
the words and the smoke—
this mysterious lotion
soothing troubled souls
~~ 4 ~~
a licorice stick
soaked in liquor of longing
to tempt the lonely
~~ 5 ~~
Phrases become birds—
chickens, wrens, owls and eagles—
when she writes poems.
~~ 6 ~~
great-grandmother’s house—
trains from Philadelphia
hurtling through her dreams
~~ 7 ~~
around the elbows
the sagging flesh reminding
her of eighty years
~~ 8 ~~
this night of summer
swaying in the front porch swing
moonbeams tease her hair
~~ 9 ~~
into plates of food
a hypnotizing potion
poured by trembling hands
~~ 10 ~~
going somewhere else
stripping off his uniform—
disgraced general
~~ 11 ~~
Here from somewhere else
I’ve come not by brains or brawn,
but by the Spirit.
~~ 12 ~~
wooden heads laughing—
tonight’s carnival gimmick
luring traffic in
~~ 13 ~~
Of all the engines,
the heart’s glad-sad-bad machine
is the mightiest.
© 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Poetry Pantry #222
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 182
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
Posted on October 12, 2014, in 5-7-5, Alberto Álvaro Ríos, Haiku My Heart, Recuerda Mi Corazon, The Poetry Pantry, The Sunday Whirl and tagged Alberto Álvaro Ríos, Arizona, brains, chickens, flesh, gimmick, hypnotizing, liquor, lotion, lust, machine, tease, torture, trains, uniform. Bookmark the permalink. 30 Comments.
Magical Mystical Teacher 
such a treasure trove installment from the depths of your writers mind. only you could be so prolific and take us across a world of emotions. hands down, you are the true “haiku heart”.
I really liked #5 — describes the writing process. #8 — feels so nostalgic. Swinging on the porch swing seems like something my mother would have done in her youth. #12 — reminds me of the bobble heads that are sometimes passed out at baseball games here! A nice set once again.
Oh I love no 5…nice set…
Number 7 is by far my favourite. Wonderful.
No.7 is the bane of my life. No.13 is my favourite.
At least there were two out of the lineup that grabbed your attention!
You make me think of my Grandmother’s saggy skin at her elbows. I loved it best! It was the softest! And now I touch my own…my favs, 5 and 6.
wisdom to the fore
Today, moving from torture to the mightiest machine in your haiku put a spell on me like you never did before. What a tour of heart’s beats, its pulse, its survival despite all! Thank you.
Wow. How do you come up with such an array of thoughts? It’s wonderful. I like them all. 2 and 7 are my favorites.
I like five and eight…meet you there!
So many haiku, it’s like coming a loaded banquet 🙂 1-3-4 and 8 are my favorite.
Excellent.
I most love the phrases becoming birds. Brilliant.
Wonderful set…the last one is my fav…:-)
What a pleasure it is to visit and have you place dreams within our minds.
WOW!!!
They are all very good, but I adore #8, what a beautiful image you put in my head. Thanks, mmt.
Pamela
Your words are always a hypnotizing potion you create for your reader’s dinner table. Thank you,
Elizabeth
http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/
They probably wouldn’t be so good for breakfast, would they? 😉
On Sun, Oct 12, 2014 at 4:07 PM, Magical Mystical Teacher wrote:
>
As always, a collection of short gems…”moonbeams tease her hair” – just one of them…
http://whenthepenbleeds.blogspot.ca/?zx=d36f092f50b54848
Instead of having these tiny gems for breakfast on Sunday, I’m enjoying them with dinner on Monday! 13 Yeses!
I trust no indigestion will follow!
On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 2:14 PM, Magical Mystical Teacher wrote:
>
Your poems go down easily!
You must be taking them with a spoonful of sugar a la Mary Poppins!
On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 7:39 PM, Magical Mystical Teacher wrote:
>
I loved the second one.
A feast for me!!!
Fantastic as usual … a lovely bakers dozen!
Spectacular. What great flow and word choices.
My favorites are 6,7, 8 and 11. Truly, they are all wonderful.