Take a look at me and Mike James pontificating about process.
Author Archives: shawnpavey
That Time a Robot Read My Poem Aloud On the Internet
New Poems at Rusty Truck
My Review of Tony Gloeggler’s Newest Book
A Review of Survival Tips at Pedestal Magazine
New Poem at As It Ought To Be
Click on my hyperlinked name above.
Three New Poems at Deuce Coupe
Love Letter to the World
Love Letter to the World
Here, in this season of dying,
neighbors, three of them in as many years,
spouses and nephews and parents of co-workers,
playwrights, artists, poets, musicians, and actors,
old acquaintances and classmates and teachers
with whom I had not spoken in decades,
all of whom I adored,
friends and family so far from here;
this list growing longer through all of my days.
It is Sunday in eastern Kansas,
under a wide blue and temperate
summer sky, cool sweat on my brow
from a morning mow, I am wishing
I am wishing I am wishing and I wish
for all of us, all of us, more time
in back yards, on porch swings,
around barbecue grills, in living rooms,
in kitchens, in coffee shops, book stores, and bars.
Let us speak to each other
over cups in which we hold
our broken spirits together
where we sip our beer,
drink our coffee, hell, I’ll even brew
strong sweet tea that we can
pour over ice with or without
fine bourbon on the side.
Let us talk of our lives together and separate,
speak softly of things
in our shattered and mended hearts,
tell such stories that weave us into a tapestry
of our larger, collected selves.
Find me here or there or wherever I may be.
Take my hand, grab my shoulder,
then let us steal away to a quiet corner
and enjoy some music or sit in silence,
together in this whole, big mess of a world.
© Shawn Pavey, 2019. All rights reserved.
Poem for My Wife
What I Say to You After Work: for Naomi It’s just a bad day, Darlin. There have been others before this and we’re still here, still breathing, still waking up in the morning to do it all over again. I know. I know it has to get better. It will. Let’s go for a walk and look at the maples in our neighborhood budding their fresh green leaves, shedding the whirlygigs with their veined helicopter wings. Let’s feel the warming spring Kansas breeze on our faces, let it tousle our hair like a busy mother’s touch. Let’s leave the smart phones and music players at home. Let’s talk out the frustrations and the humiliations and the fuckups. Let’s talk about planting flowers and tomatoes, playing guitars, grilling, inviting friends over, getting out of the house. Let’s stop at the corner where the redbud ignites against the greening grass. Let’s curse the dandelions but enjoy the yellow. Let’s give the bad day the attention it deserves, which, really, ain’t much. © 2019 by Shawn Pavey
Poem About Georgia O’Keeffe, the Desert, NYC, and the Moon
Ladder to the Moon
for Georgia O’Keeffe
When it’s time, you’ll know.
You’ll see it hanging in front of you
as if it had always been there,
a hand-made wooden ladder
above night-blackened red desert hills,
its bottom rung too high to even jump for,
top rung reaching nothing
save the space between earth sand and moon soil.
And somewhere past this desert,
past every thing,
strains a music of cinder blocks,
choirs of cranes and car horns,
and towers in New York
reverberating a struggle
to reach only higher than they can.
If you can just see what is here,
then maybe a ladder will fall within your reach,
maybe it will carry you up
to touch and stand on a moon of your own,
to look down on towers of concrete, steel, and glass
that seem so small from there.
© Shawn Pavey, 2019