Four Poems

harvey ellis

heron

I sleep and wake
like a heron
dipping in dreams

the surface tension
breaks so easily
into currents that stir
the past
brush strokes
on a movable painting

I am dissolving
in and out
across this membrane
watch me
while I become
my own imagination

I
and the surface of this water
are the same

sideways

write sideways
and the meaning
comes through
slanted

words on tilt
say unusual things

some letters
squeak when they
are rubbed
tangles
and cross-sections
vibrating

sometimes ideas branch
like proteins of
self-making

tell me your thoughts
out of control

his art

his art reflected
a wish to be
reflected
rather than
the wish itself

better
to show intent
than the product
it makes

I travel
the road
to satisfaction
daily
and move into
its circle
frequently

since the circle
wants to move
why not
make satisfaction
the move itself

and the circle
the sweet nectar
on our tongues

girl on a wire

the girl
on a wire
twisting turns
wiggles
in and out of
ballet positions
in mid air she wraps

a long blue cloth
around her
and spins
like a compass dial
in an electrical
storm

how much her beauty
shows
in the arc of danger

how much it shows
no safe haven

© Harvey Ellis

≡≡≡≡≡

harvey ellis is an experiment in deep conscious writing, a pseudonym for imaginative thinking, and a creative channel for a poetics that moves through images and word associations running in the deep channels of human emotion. Two books of his poems have been published: Sleep not Sleep from Wolf Ridge Press and a double book, The Color of Desire published by Petaluma River Press. Many of his poems are published in literary magazines and Garrison Keillor read one on his program, “The Writer’s Almanac” on NPR. His poetry was featured in the Jazz-Poetry CD, “Free Radicals”, released in 2011.