retreat

John Martone

samuddo / ocean

My thanks to Ian Storr for publishing some

of this work in Presence.

retreat
Copyright 2016 John Martone
samuddo / ocean

Palazzo bello. Cane di notte dal casolare

al passar del viandante
Leopardi

the words
that push
you on
the words
that hold
you back
the words
let go
the words

back road
named for
a saint

wide open
gatekeepers shelter
empty

lilac night
all the stars
in a breath

getting new teeth

a journey
to that place

yellow ladys slipper

its been a dozen years

Jehovahs witness
in jacket and tie
I feel shabby

summer wind
through the house
my new teeth
dont fit

a friend dies
my eraser
tears the paper

I put on a jacket
and sit in my chair
its early

undressing for bed

find a tick
unattached

10

there all along

falling to pieces
diary of a country priest
whod believe it

11

you look up
from your book
theyve a nest

12

ladders legs
rise from
the ferns

13

a nesting dove
trembles
as I trim
the lowest branch

14

my
pruning
hook
reaches
up
then
theres
outer
space

15

sweat pours down

an old man speaking that language

16

lapidary
words change
even as you
get them down

erasing
that which is
likely closer
to to the truth

17

the nouns
lie where
theres nothing

a code
crossed-out

and arent you

a special cloud

18

such brightness
you hardly know
youre asleep

you wake up
wrongly thinking
someones home

19

removing a nest
from the painted birdhouse
somebodys gift

20

a car
trip once
stopped at an
overlook
how it all
dropped away
we didnt know
we didnt know

21

pines so dense
you get lost
standing still

each pine tree a Mrchen

and all together
silence

22

this flowing water speaks Italian

23

morning
full of cosmic waves
the page still blank

you want
a lighter touch
more coffee

you dust
the vacuum-tube radio
breaking it

24

soaking the eggplant

waiting for
a storm to burst

both hands holding

a cantaloupe
you feel blind

25

some bread
and a red onion
and this field

I slice a red onion in half

the circles
include me

26

up late
reading those mystics
fall asleep

want
to climb
the bell
tower

27

I fall on the steps at night and lose my keys

28

pulling pants on
over a bandaged knee
summer upstate

29

time travel
and why not
your next life
come back as
giottos wall

30

the longest daylily summer solstice

31

a snail shell left behind

beside a flowerpot
also empty

32

a single breath
fills the mind
cardinal
sparrow

33

hermit thrush

summer returns
to an empty house
the mousetrap unsprung

34

sun on the pines

after rain
earths albedo

35

the backyard mown

my fig tree
that much taller

36

yellow-jackets nest
in the birdhouse
chipmunks under the steps

37

that little snag

in the blue fabric
thats you

38

that woodpecker suddenly

so much louder
rain drips from the eaves

39

lake breeze through summer grasses

the great forgetting
already at work

you think to yourself

open up and finger
the nettle

40

one window
a picture
of Naples

41

italic nib
June 23

flash cards
you cant
go back

42

you carry
the roman poets home
roots crack the pavement

43

flickering
really miss
red and blue
votive candles

clearly
holy
water

44

amalfis
rococo
saint andrews
dear uncle andrew
five-foot-two
in your black suit
now I see

45

you lost your calling at the age of ten

practice
your italic hand

better learn
letting go

rosary
in a padded box

46

hiking compass
on sill
still

47

you turn
toward the laughing child
a mimosa trees flowers

48

bare elbows propped

on a bare kitchen table
summers heat

49

electric fans
in high windows
chimney swifts
wild at dusk

50

fallen
return
doves egg
to nest

51

you cross a footbridge

stream water swirls
below the hydrangeas

52

one stone balanced

on another
in the stream
there you are

53

the old womans hands

all knuckles holding red
gladioli

theres a dove at my window

a breeze
opens the door

54

wings beating
the dove leaves
its cry behind

a house wren
I reach for
the screen door

55

pokeweed and wild grape

pulled-out a bindweed bloom
for the vase

56

a painted sparrow
on the empty vase
one sings outside

a house trailer leans

in queen annes lace
fresh eggs

57

bare arms
pull out trumpet vine
theres the downspout

driving toward
a mirage my road
to the ocean

58

water tower
you climbed and saw
the towns a cloud

59

a lamp
the light beyond

60

inside