Cover art: Maksim Ukhno “Fish day” 2020, courtesy of Ukrainian painters’ exhibit in Padua
BUT AFTER A BRIEF WORKOUT AND SOME RUNNING, THE COATI WAS SAFELY CONTAINED.*
as was all that had gone into hiding
only to be later smoked out or forced from its burrow
by hunger or rising waters
safely contained after showing up on the porch
looking for the mercy of a crumb
and then quickly smelling that it was not to be
but too late! astonishment
of the nervous system had set into motion
the neural net and that of the dog catcher
San Antonio was not extending his intercession
to the coati’s existence or residence
no! to wild things coming from the south
hence containment then observation
then return to where the wild things are
supposed to dwell – away from transnational
modernity the amoeba kingdom of synthetic reality
allowed to expand or shrink at will near the well.
*Direct quote from KSAT-TV news (fox13memphis, 8 January, 2023)
It’s not the oxytocin
“Monogamous rodents
don’t need love molecule
to pair up”
smugly convened the latest issue
of a peer reviewed journal
assembled by men in white coats
haunting the halls
of synthetic knowledge
spying upon cages
of cuddly, bewildered prairie voles
whose nemeses are ferrets, weasels, otters
and the criminalized, much sought after, minks
(the latter’s plight that of being prone
to host the jumping of viruses between species,
amassed as they are by the thousands
in confined spaces to provide
raw materials for fur coats
creating a hitch and a blight for those
slippery to the touch, uncuddly
humans with their gold lined
central nervous systems
and Viagra on their night stands).
The failing uterus of light
The failing uterus of light
grieves its impotence
as stars gnashing their teeth
succumb to their farawy depths
While, spread by contagion,
the path unrolls
guided by wicked bioma
and a flailing brain fog
ushering in a New Age
of wild super pigs
and maverick bovines
cunningly eluding the gunner
atop the strafing chopper
strapped to the malevolence
of a species tottering on the brink.
Four magpies – What does it mean?
Three on the left, one to the right
under the wing a blotch of white
snow peeking from
a field of jet black
A hobbling motion
on a sea of green
A dance of mystery
on a color scheme
Messaging from the Muse
thieving, or just there minding
their own business entangled
in the sound of a faraway
unaware of a green comet
tracked by a million telescopes
and Audubon-ed naked eyes
obsessing on visual portents
their dormant, remote sensing organ deaf
to the symphony of celestial spheres
The Gospel According to the Blue Caterpillar
Lord Praise and Heed the Word
of the Blue-hued Worm:
It of the unassuming pose
smoking a narghile
on the bright red, white,
polka dotted Amanita Muscaria
anywhere in any time zone
in the Six known continents
plus a few Submerged ones
and their attending
Ghost Cartographies
Ones that have been known to morph
from the crushing weight
of the mazapegul, the sheep-killing sprite
(an agricultural/pastoral society dweller)
that lays upon your chest
in your sleepless night
inoculating its venom of anxiety
and surprisingly begets
the somewhat jocular
feathery light Phoenix
who burns, dies and is reborn
bent on wreaking havoc
by disturbing
and digging up dragon teeth
scattered about by heroes
to mark the boundaries
and foundation
of cities of sorrow
progenitors of Nations
which then again, beget
Unicorn, the Brave
plotting the rescue
of the Narwal horn
from the Wunderkammer
so as to unchain Wonder
from its Museum case
and release it into the Wild
to flock with flamingos
and swarm with the bees
as the alphabet of humans
lies in distress
and the ridiculous species
that invented it and
proudly declares to be at the helm
doesn’t even need the mazapegul
to have its heart, mind and limbs
tied by the paralysis
of its own misguided hubris.
Pina Piccolo is a bilingual (English, Italian) writer, translator and cultural promoter, living between Italy and California. She blogs at Pina Piccolo’s blog, is the sole editor of The Dreaming Machine and one of the founders and editors of La Macchina Sognante. Her writing appears in journals and anthologies, both digital and print.
.
