https://monthstoyears.org/the-hand-whisper/
"The Hand Whisper"
published by Months To Years, Fall 2024 issue.
https://monthstoyears.org/the-hand-whisper/
"The Hand Whisper"
published by Months To Years, Fall 2024 issue.
A nice birthday present arrived in the form of an acceptance of one of my poems by Months to Years. The poem was written six years ago and was submitted about 100 times to try to find its published home. http://monthstoyears.org/the-backstory/ has a precious backstory and this poem of mine was a perfect fit for them and their journal a perfect fit for the work.
Digital and then printed publication to follow in their upcoming Fall issue. In the meantime, here's a look at their Summer 2024 issue.
The Challenged
There was a magic about him
to walk into a neighborhood bar
randomly, purposefully step up to strangers
shake their hands without saying a word
move on to the next, and the next, and then leave
Daily, his routine was celebrated
as was his name, Sedric
bespectacled, near bald
always wearing crisp clean khakis
solid-colored, short-sleeved shirts and patterned neckwear.
When he did speak
the words seem to stab
like they were interrupting
some inner voice already in conversation
like a waitress jabs, “Anything else?”
What Sedric wore brightest
was a smile of accomplishment
perhaps a set number of hands impacted
or a circuit finished, like a marathoner's last mile
like a pen happily returning to its plastic pocket protector
On the grayer days
he would drag his necktie
like some unholy umbrella
confessing to the sidewalk
how long the hours were
Everywhere we live
there is a Sedric shaking hands
whom we see in a foretelling mirror
beyond the taint of laughter
whispering, "There, but for the grace..."
Aaron Williams
@2023 by Arts by the People for inclusion in their Moving Words collaborative film project
Note: Over a nine-year span, this poem was submitted more than 200 times to a variety of literary journals worldwide. I always believed in the piece. It was only when accepted by ARTS by the People did I realize the deep imagery of the work and how it could indeed inspire a film. The film aired November, 2023.
There is a part of me rural
like deer gathering on Sunday morning
like the scent of skunk entering my car vent
cans of Busch rusting in red clover
and lilacs blooming, lilacs blooming, just for me
There is a part of me rural
as a blue jay swoops, screeching at my cat
as she explores an unleashed frontier
green emboldens after a welcomed rain
as I am ionized after each shower of the Perseids
There is a part of me rural
like dust resting on a country store's front windowsill
"Come in, run fingers over your past"
waiting to be reborn, then being reborn
my inner child toddles on barn wood flooring
There is a part of me rural
as the whoosh of a sliding glass door
has inside running outside
mint green sheets waving at turquoise gutters
free from a reality that nothing is on tv
There is a part of me rural
like cascading billboards for Meramec Caverns
like winds winding the giant ball of twine
streams of red, white and blue church doors
staring at free air defining my simpleRR smile
Aaron Williams
Published 2023 in Kansas City Voices, Vol. 18
Fifteen years in the making, I am pleased to offer the now published version of "Holiday Remembered," appearing January 6, 2023, in Panoplyzine, Issue 23, Winter 2023
I am pleased that three poems were accepted in the fourth quarter of 2022. Yay. For some reason having problems getting the link for the first one appearing online to show in this blog. Please copy and paste into your search engine to read it. Not sure how to fix this problem. Hmmm.
https://panoplyzine.com/holiday-remembered-by-aaron-williams-2/
Buck on Baseball
a concrete poem published by Boog City, issue 137, 2020
https://wordpress.boogcity.com/boog-city-paper/boog-city-137-the-baseball-issue/buck-on-baseball/
Showing Me the Moon
(A Terzanelle for Dr. Michael Castro, the first official St. Louis Poet Laureate)
showing me the moon
underwear too far down
I thought of him a loon
more harlequin than clown
the pattern was quite checkered
underwear too far down
I feared a sight soon peckered
lower and lower slid his pants
the pattern was quite checkered
his grab too often on his lance
got the lad excited
lower and lower slid his pants
too soon he was self-knighted
waddle waddle everywhere
got the lad excited
the question remained who would stare
waddle waddle everywhere
showing me the moon
I thought of him a loon
Published 2019 in the now-defunct Not Your Mother's Breast Milk blog
Waiting for What and When
Soon, a day will come
when I will look in the mirror and not know who I am
not recall how I got that scar above my eye
stare at photos, unable to place names on faces
Already, I am opening drawers filled with keys to
locked doors in buildings that have been demolished
Daily, I pass structures haunted by long kisses from
lovers whose lips have long abandoned me
Today, I pulled the cord on the bus, stood up
stood out standing still like a stilled life
and did not think at all
I smiled, charmingly
they like me more when I smile
Published 2018, Vallum, Memory and Loss issue, Vol. 15:1