Archive for March, 2013


Once More, Cellar Door

Cellar door, a beautiful blend of sound.
First two syllables hit high and nascent.
The els, ohs, and ours, a lot like a prayer,
romance, language, collective memory.

Cel, la, dore, hits head, tongue, solar plexus,
massages the body from the top down,
through spoken word, thy will be done on earth.
Susurro and jungfrau.  Sphinx and doubloon.

The sss is sibilant, the luh a tease.
Door is the om-like climax, the deep rush.
The D, a light tip of the tongue at first, 
lips then parted, unsure: the end of R.

© Carlos Chagall, 2013
Love I think has side doors, ways to enter
unannounced, behind the main stage, below
the orchestra pit.  

Oh, but to fly down
to the center spot from the mezzanine
tethered to a taut invisible wire,
a nymph dreaming of a midsummer night.

But then what?  Soliloquy, bow, curtsy?
A pas de deux followed by fond adieu?

I'm through your cellar window, past sorrow,
stumbling over joy in the dark and damp.
Overhead, a string, a pullchain of light,
evades my touch with each stretch to grasp it.


© Carlos Chagall, 2013

chagall backdrop

Last night when I came into the bedroom,
I turned the light on low. You were asleep
with the most wonderful look on your face.

On your back with your hands drawn to your chin,
your shoulders raised in a shrug, eyes tight,
Duchenne smile, you beheld the marvelous,
cheeks red, lips pursed in amazement, as if
you were witnessing the birth of a star.

I watched you, in the presence of angels,
then I closed the light and raised the blanket,
and cautiously slid in there beside you,
so not to startle, jar your reverie.

I found my place in our nighttime hollow,
sunk in the mattress, you shifted and slid
into orbit along my gravity,
snuggling up warm and long against my back.

We are ancient Mayans drawn on the wall,
in the capsule, awaiting reentry.

© Carlos Chagall, 2013

Paris (part 4)

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There's a rider on the storm, 
gallops underground, up on the hill, Père Lachaise.  

In Montmarte I take it easy, with my easel and I paint, 
pointillistic in the sun.  

Fine dots of light float free in photons
after noon. 

on that day:
manet monet chagall corbet.  

Can you tell? 
I have no clue what arrondissement I'm in.  
Just a hazy, dizzy mood, this spin ...
so absinthe minded.

Does everybody smoke here?  
Well let's be clear, I'm joining you, 

I'm weak.  
Giving up my good intentions for you my loves, 
monique dominique veronique.
C'est magnifique!

- to be continued -

© Carlos Chagall, 2013     Rider on the Storm     Absinthe

1024px-Paolo_Veronese,_The_Wedding_at_Cana
The Mona Lisa at the Louvre,
is not my favorite girl in that room.
It's the bride from the feast at Cana,
who sits on the other side.

You can hear angels call,
feel the spirit move them all,
the guests who came to celebrate.
I hope I'm not too late.

But no one sees her,
they all turn their backs,
to spy the smile of Lisa.

- to be continued -

© Carlos Chagall, 2013     Paolo Veronese – The Wedding at Cana     Louvre

Haiku Salud

Haiku for Betty,
from her window in Indy
the world comes alive.

best wishes for success on your chapbook,
Chagall, 2013

Paris (part 2)

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And the women?  Ah, the women
drive you crazy with their lazy
way of talking at you, pouting.
Whisper voulez-vous.

I never should have come to Paris.
I don't seem to be the kind.  Two 
walk the rainy streets along Versailles.

The Ile of France,
where emperors dance,
and the old dome, Notre Dame,
leave me breathless tonight.  I 

never know which side of the Seine I'm on.
I'll just ask a bookanista,
they all know me,
call me "Mon ami, l'americain."


- to be continued -
Carlos Chagall, 2013

Chagall, look!  It’s you!

Sebastien Greco pointing to Marc Chagall lithograph on exhibition,
2003, Musee D'Orsay, Paris, France
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They say failed aerialists know
that the last fall is the hardest.
But such a sweet kiss 
when you hit the ground.

My soul turns somersaults now.
I hesitate to let go, I don't dare.
I just watch you as you sail on by, 
reaching for the air.

Updraft tumbles me 
wildly.  I 
flutter by, bye baby.

They say fallen trapezists know
that to miss time is to lose heart.
It's such a sad kiss 
when you say goodbye. 

Chicheme, March 2013
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I'm at a hotel in Paris, on a balcony
overlooking Rue Chambiges,
in the 8th arrondissement.

Did you hear?
I bummed three cigarettes 
from le garcon at the Bistro.
Thought I'd given that all up 
so many years ago.

But as Parisians do, I guess
so go I. 

Gonna savor the flavor
on the balcony 
in Paris tonight,
ce soir, in Paris.

I cannot see the Eiffel Tower from where I am,
but they tell me that it flickers,
on the hour,
just like 
lovers gone wild.

Too many gypsies on the street
play guitar with all their fingers,
so they cannot be real gypsies,
or can they?

Not like Django,
French tango,
tell me,
where'd the old gang go?

- to be continued -
Chicheme, March 2013

arrondissement, Django Reinhardt, 8th arrondissement