Two poems by Jacob Russell

(untitled) ‘death & dreams’

Observe. Write what impresses
the senses
let the mind follow

It's in naming common things
we draw the reader in

A kind of touch
     you see
     I see
Intimate

where every conversation
wants to go

Outside a neighbor is talking on her cell phone
It's the day we call Thanksgiving
This morning snow flakes descended
 from gray clouds
There is neither rhyme nor reason for these lines
Distilled out of air
Out of the gray chemistry of my brain
Out of what I call mind
I can neither touch nor hold them
As they pass through words
At near the speed of light
Cosmic rays pass through the earth 
  They are everywhere
Hydrogen protons
Alpha particles of helium
Hurled by magnetic storms from dying stars
A faint hiss
On my neighbor's cell
breaking open the genetic code

meta-static

strings

vibrato

super-symmetry

of death & dreams

=====================

The Cat Who Waits

awaits
a cat     this cat
awaits

all cats not present
present 
in this     one

 ***

his dinner waits
his eyes on mine my eyes
eyes (mine) 
in his
see them I  face 
in mine, image of my own
possessed     possession

  This
tail     this 
cat
this  body

each alone un-
owned

 ***
  
 All possessives 
  
All--scales 
eye of language--blinding
cataract, a mote
 upon the body lies

mute         still
born 

(not mine not ours) 

Author bio:

Jacob writes, "When I was not yet 4 years old, feeling I'd been unfairly punished, it came to me that something terrible happened to adults, that they didn't know or remember what it had been like, and I promised myself I would write - A Book of the Child - that I could keep and read in secret and I would never forget. I couldn't write it then, but the wish stayed with me, like a promise I made to myself. And maybe, when I die, I'm going to be able to see that child again, and when I do, I'll be able to tell him: I kept my promise. I didn't forget." Jacob lives in South Philly, carries a Spirit Stick and talks to trees. He hope his poems will give you pleasure.