Author: R L Raymond

Imagist

Apathetic Fallacy

The evening valiantly teased rain
a slight shift in the wind wheezing through
desiccated leaves of trees awilt 
offering neither respite nor reprieve


A rogue cloud pushed through the smokiness
flicked five faint drops echoing Cetus
against the soot-encrusted window


Before they could trace the constellation
with their blackened cracked and blistered fingers
it faded into insignificance


All around them the fire ate the world
smug in its inevitability
licking at the fields and the forests and the sky
still unopposed by any long-blinded witness

Written for “Poets in Response to Peril” upcoming event (April 2022). Hear my reading and see video below (posted by Rico Sitoski).

Event details here: https://www.rsitoski.com/event-details/poets-in-response-to-peril

First Love

No matter how much new gear I get, I always manage to go back to my first love: the Fuji XE1. You can get these for peanuts online. Colour rendition, control, toughness all second to none. With a relatively inexpensive pancake 27mm it’s the perfect go everywhere camera.

A little ways up north

the .410 bore was perfect
full choked for partridge
either perched or flying

he’d dropped another one onto the small pond 
getting his feet wet 
when he’d stepped through the ice

he dressed it - wings tucked then yanked quickly -
and placed the breast in waxed cardboard 
the carcass tossed aside for any hungry vixen

walking the path that ribboned through pines
he picked up boughs and cones
to decorate the hunting shack

smoke from the rusted chimney
carried wintergreen and blueberries
mixed with breadcrusts ready for stuffing 

his uncle looked up from the woodstove
woodspoon in hand
white beard streaked from sampling

“Looks like you got yourself soaked…
 take your socks off and hang ‘em 
 in front of the fire.”

They sat together sharing a bottle of port
telling stories and retelling memories 
eager for another perfect holiday meal
Winter stump © R L Raymond

Through the woods…

Leafless Trees & Harvested Crops © R L Raymond 
Through the woods 
in late afternoon in autumn

as the colours
drain brown
stain water
humus
over broken
branches
all bark-stripped
smoothworn
they blindly rush
hoping 
the leaf-slick
deer-run
leads them away
from dusk
hanging low
so soon
to the hollow
where the
flask of scotch
was hid

Originally appeared in “Gorilla Pamphlets”

Some experimenting below. I thought it may be interesting to append to this post. This would be a good exercice à la Beckett to achieve that “detached” vibe in one’s writing.