every autumn i am rock beneath oceanic laughter

wasn't aware my breasts are gluten my thighs cedar

empty massarati court paralegal serves me papers

'caw caw caw' friday ignoring my son

heat dwn im west phoenix local diner

with formaldehyde mvts the Buick engine stalls

near a village my tongue is a henna tattoo

apartment in munich old binder discovering mom's opera roles

silent verandah earth's mouth spews demons

old cathedral across town her panties ripped

drunk sprawled over a memory of twisting you

nightfall thatched roof stirs mycenae coast

morning breeze no telegram arrives in fallen leaves

late winter rain monotone beep frm the heart monitor

near old barn door his dropped dog tags

old beetle he quietly turns radio on

your day to day walkings sound exploding crests on ears

frm your thighs wind as prayers

frm your thighs wind as prayers|#monoku

after dinner our lovemaking wrecking balls

water recedes frm walking lungs clutch mink closer

everything
begins on the cusp
of your smile

from my feet mists of Dunsinane recall Macbethlike laughter

fallen trees habitation of fears still i linger

in her high tower we feast on lightning bread

half decibel cry a god warms his hands by coals

this rock in my womb ministers of barbarity

morning she dresses in regrets

memories buried near kiwi waters walking tumors

empty home smoke walks from my nostrils

often i travel thick darkness 'neath my feet high fires

beneath tired gums i cradle bones of magicians

watching tv midwiving the oil frm roman hills

after midnight i cross myself with his confessions

behind clipped shrubs the breath of babies

moonlight on her skin she's an ordinary sound

wearing 55 yrs in my thighs uproot this breathing

in a back alley open galaxies btwn her thighs

touchup the mural on my back this dayshine

after our promise not to sleep around grass stains our back

memorials over our head ancestors restrain you

even in this dayshine her dash to the cemetery

hills / cool tears / winter #haiku

mulatto heat / crinoline melody / in earth's veins

my high octane anger her held breath

my nuncio / diseased shadows / in his cardinal's robes

my nuncio / incan prayer / frm foam lips

gutteral skies / have a certain bite / morning chill

gunmetal sky / windy touch / in Pukch'ong Coast

beach bonfire / in a conch shell / your womanpoems

assassins / 12 leagues to / Shushan palace

my elastic waist waiting for his sound

armadas / spanish sabers / cut through seas

over drinks / detach tongue / of pink regrets

after hours / against a blues / i hide in a lantern

after 11pm / her hips / my centrifugal force

picasso man / eyes on cups / blue haze

elongated gestures scorpion venom in her eyes

old desk / his feet / on a turkish divan

old dog house tattered robe opens #haiku

unreasonable / run in my stockings murmur

pass graveyard / baby sees inbtwn / your birth and death

old woman's / belt of rain / she coughs mountains

in a skinny sea / distended thigh / picks wisteria

at times i breath one thousand year old storms

r i s e o f h i s b o d y / w i l d s e n r y û / i n m y h a i r

m y s e n r y û / m y h a i k u / j u s t t h a t . . . . m i n e

her impulses / wild camphor / taints my air

wearing echo of your voice / damp shingles

w e a r i n g e c h o o f y o u r v o i c e " d a m p s h i n g l e s

senryu and haiku

frau cohen
washing clothes
children call her 'yekke putze'


dusk
western winds are
diligent terrorists #haiku


new york flat
old movies watched
with a moussad agent


in the theatre
he falls in love
with daughter of Allah


landscaping my backyard the Trojan war #haiku


she speaks ancient persian our tea grows cool


black september rain in Munich #haiku


flotilla
of sweat
assails my brow


nondescript yard
feeble afternoon #haiku


red file cabinet
aging house #haiku


so in tune...
commandments
etched on grass #haiku


city under unrest
city council can't meet budget


animal right's rally
mayor's wife in a new chinchila fur


evening metro
   uptown snow
and i greet him


his skin
    oil dark
        rustle of night winds

7 senryu

Hanukkah
israeli ambassador
pours a drink


dinner in Tehran
Shah Pahlavi admires her gown


thick snow
   old Vienna
stately and dignified


facelift
a clinic
near the Danube


late evening
near the Black Forest
singing Bach in local 'kirche'


spanish bellhop wrapping me in shudders / bird's wings


post summer
brushing her thighs in Tivoli gardens

gogyohshi

5am...
yea though i walk
through the
valley of sleep--
turning over

11 senryu, 2 haiku

feet walk arpeggiated lanes
lost fedora


crisp morning
    church expects negro spirituals
i sing Bach


his speech too angular to be straightforward


old pines tap water flows over her breasts


end of day
   washed age
down washbasin


jerusalem
    coffee on balcony
overlooking Golan Heights #haiku


old pickup
  we light cigarettes
talking 15 yr old tales


wisconsin mountains
my shadow stains rivers #haiku


roaring fire
seeing his bare body
in the tent #brokebackmountain


backdrop of thunderstorms
casual meeting at Chastain's


postcard
dated 1963 old sawmill closes


old chest...
buried sexuality
accrues dust


new dehli...
   peeling a sari
frm her cool skin

13 yongyohshi

scratch of
his pen. my sleep
invaded. slump
of worried shoulders


monday matin
saw him briefly. his
smile hidden
in tap water


midnight--
she's on her knees.
repentance
cools on the floor


in bed with him
race of c. parker's
last blue note.
my man sails me


this morning
wrapping me in  your
image...secure...
--old cutless in yard


crooked
picture over the
bookcase. a
ticking clock, my company


visiting hospice...
my mom is silent.
i sit by her bed
smelling withheld fears


rivers swollen...
lying against spanish
moss, she asks
about my ex-wife


old plates
packed. house up
for cell. she
maneuvers memories


her heartache
mingles with the
seafood takeout.
a strange wind.


old flat
his world antique
and quiet--
ex-stasi agent


old throw
serves as curtain...
he lies in bed
tv watches him


15 yrs--
a brief hug. in
and out my life...
crushed hibiscus

gogyohshi

quick trip
to the grocer's for
a roast i hate.
cooking. i turn over
thoughts of divorce

senryu and a few haiku

back neck--
    garden i no
longer walk


morning after i am pregnant with harp disrobed


in his feet norse god speaks splinters


old woman
    cries hibiscus red tears
and becomes anemone


passion
your wooden finger
dwn a divorced spine


unapologetic
i french kiss demons instead of light


late december
   their breasts withdraw
to shadows


when chrysanthemums mumble i embrace water


on my doorstep
     a garland of hatred
--end of summer


eyes empty
   the monitor
has the solo


12yrs
now i love my heritage
over wine


lit a cigarette
reading a letter
frm his lover


sunset--
strolling Pinkney's park #haiku


aged harpsichord
wine stain kisses a white carpet #haiku

carried clouds in eyes south wind rebels #haiku

3 yongyohshi

in blk hands
oak-like, your sound
cradled; dusk
upbows her viola


i distrust
her. her carribean
teeth sequester
lies unapologetically


over dinner
your tongue will
stretch dusk--
later he enters me

gogyohshi

after wrk
i rush home to
ride your
totem pole. inscribe
each stroke in cuneiform

yongyohshi

alone...
solace in hands
ready to
stroke away loneliness

in the kitchen i mount on sound become apparition

the vertebrae of her laughter fractured after midnight

yongyohshi

headed to
work last night lingers...
i am his avatar
conceived in colors & blue

gogyohshi

dinner at
the Catalan later we
head to a Lieder
recital by Mme Urmana
its a cool, rainy eve

yongyohshi

same cobblestones
now dampened with
rain--he stirs. he
sleeps. day moves me

yongyohshi

scrubbing
dishes Mme Urmana's
dark soprano
caresses Liszt- i sigh

i will lie dwn in this piano my skin dances 'gainst sleep

his legs
are candles I
inhale his lit
walkings...pomegranate

so in tune / commandments / etched on grass

red file cabinet / aging house

nondescript yard / feeble afternoon

flotilla / of sweat / assails my brow

black september / rain in Munich

she speaks / ancient persian / our tea grows cool

landscaping / my backyard / the Trojan war

in the theatre / he falls in love / with a daughter of Allah

new york flat / old movies watched / with a Moussad agent

dusk / western winds are / diligent terrorists

frau cohen / washing clothes / children call her 'yekke putze'

post summer / brushing her thigh / in Tivoli gardens

spanish bellhop wrapping me in shudders bird wings

facelift / a clinic / near the Danube

thick snow / old Vienna / stately and dignified

Hanukkah / israeli ambassador / pours a drink

dinner in Tehran Shah Pahlavi admires her gown

city under unrest / city council / can't meet budgey

animal rights rally / mayor's wife / in a new chinchilla fur

evening metro / uptown snow / and i greet him

his skin / oil dark / rustle of night winds

pentecostal pastor / preaches / daughter drunk across time

in a strained voice / i address / cool shadows

cashmere carpet cradles our midnight shapes

caressed bare breast / your moan / in the bedfilled night

war has casted shadows / delayed corn rises

dusk sketched in my naked body

his father's dying / embers have grown nonchalant

new years / jazz. laughter / to syncopated breathing

street lamp / casting light / over our cold detachment

raw apricot syrup your jaw stained by desert wind

splatter / of moonlight his body / curves over her

long after the rainfall / our skin damp and satiated

broken fingers / mother's buddah / too old to remember

morning expresso / steamed / in an empty kitchen

polished goblets / catching / freedom of her hips

dusty books on a shelf / moving truck arrives

your slow kiss / another dog bark

room in pink 25 yrs after daughter's disappearance

lonely kitchen morning breakfast for me and my fears

holy water praying it wipes away my past

in a book the number of the other woman in blue ink

son jailed blk mother's tears turn gray

mimosas arranged by brazen thighs we orate pleasure

i husband the mask i wear a cerulean god watches

near a mountain's base smoking dry deserts

across cancerous fences tongues divide pleasure

rash god waters the aria in a lonely dune fringe of you

crimson god sun staining judgments across our toes

old woman invited to corridor of graves no echo

brittle gods exhaling blades of age stone tears

unsealed wind / making love along / a comma's curve

after hours / his graveyard grin / alluring in oil spills

unsure of you / stagnant room imprisoned / in my mojito

it is woman / cast in sepia / she will hit the gong

graffiti / on my vagina / sings wildwater chants

on his bed i attend my own immolation

l o c k e d d o o r / p a r a l y z e d c h o r d s / a l o n g g l a s s t o e s

today 3 fields heave / in orgasm / bare branches

ive been silent / lo, these 400 yrs / i nudge bald seas

around the mausoleum / wedding of grass / hands in prayer

garish laughter / painting a most regal / black sabbath

from the past / a tentative thunder / kisses earth's underbelly

lunch of / spanish violins tuned / in turquoise milk

lone dinghy / sail length / of a casual touch

born / we lovecryhatesmile / die

death in my heart / near the hem of her satin gown / earthworms born cold

broken clavicle song / ruptured ant near woman's robe / bended soil

in two glasses / turquoise / wearied Napoleon

murdered afternoon / blood tables arranged / seated suns #haiku

the blk resistance / poisoned daggers stole / Malcolm & Martin

old body / detaching itself / Ito sea, fevered

s m a l l i s l a n d / s p r o u t s f r m a t r a i l " o f c a r t r a c k s

h i s r a u c o u s t h i g h " a l o n g i t u d i n a l s k y " b a i t i n g e a r t h # h a i k u

22nd floor dance / overlooks the city / pituitary snowfall

swallowing / the blue sanctuary of / ultraviolet rebellion

weak leaf! / evening is a frigid / maiden near death

f l u i d c a r n a g e " i a m a h e b r e w w h i s p e r e d " l e t t e r S h i n

pagan citadel / on the lips / of earth i congeal

under earth's maelstrom / i dispense / molten tears

descending stairs / rising i become / an uttered rain

How the Fence Divides: haiku sequence

How the Fence Divides
A responsive haiku sequence by Sabah and Christina Nguyen


he, commandant;
when he deftly navigate
a blackwomansail

mercy how shame is buried deep in liquid earth 

steel fence speaks separation
fractured sunlight her smile

barbed wire
the cuts
in my breath

aimless sound
scandal of our cousins

floating, floating
on needles
in the clouds

i found me
put away in an old chest
london evening

the blink
of a fawn’s eyelash
in the fog

depression sung through
a paintbrush mackerel skies

clouds
where the edge of the universe
hangs

fingers of the wind
light lullaby while washing

as the skiff
fills with sky
birdsong

old yacht • winds of the east • brush against we

plein air
the sweep of a hand
unrestricted

symphonic breath • my study time • disrupted

spilled confetti
a confession
under fireworks

eye lash
slight rip in her
heart

the creak
of an open door…
gone fishing

obstinate
child seething afternoon
sky breaks

with heels
dug in
raindrops

faction of rain
mount etna heaves and
pants in labor

how the fence
divides that haves
and have nots

balcony of thought
her arrogance festooned
like lanterns

the music beneath the harlequin mask

how we sing ‘neath crushed bones

driftwood…
white sails
against blue

cypress prayers
bended evenings
tailspin

in sparse sunlight
his rough hands
unwashed

we speak over
fences and skies
dead leaves



©2012

gogyohshi

gogyohshi (#5lines)


in sleep,
this incomplete
rest; your
image tugging my
dreams repeatedly


arriving home
your mauve day-coat
over packed
luggage...conversation
futile even after you leave


day yawns
opening her mouth
wide. humans
move, move, mooooove--
in bed i lie, Mahler in my ears

portrait
on the antique
table
you still take 3 lumps
of sugar in your tea? #gogyohshi

he is / remarkable in / this place / under a baritone / rainfall #gogyohshi

each sip of tea...
talk btwn us
one long string
of breath and
sound in old israel #gogyohshi #5lines

empty
evening laments from
steel lips

gogyohshi

'requiescat in pace'
uttered under her breath
smoothing wrinkles
in her skirt
5 yrs since his death

yongyoshi (#4lines)

facing east
this ordeal fades
away, your hands
around my waist

gogyohshi

away frm you
i become
an earther
these sabbath 
roots deflect

Yongyohshi #4lines

in the turkish
villa incense
mingles with a
late dinner

panting and heaving ancestral voices worn on hips

on the thin edge of sight nothingness

elite morning in fractured eyes gilded mvts

friday bald sky tethered to clothes line

old dreams // drip frm // earth maiden

old altars breakfast of haiku and buttered tanka

these tired sabbaths a spine stretching eastward

sang of redeemers polyphonic shimmer in leaden wombs

gargling baroque nerves a harlequin of pain

arching my throat consonants from morning stations

solitary table // Mediterranean skin // against whiskey

shake my skin loose palette of exposed chords

dull light // fingering file cabinet's edge // music stand

zootsuited eyes dance switchblade winds saunter

smelling wounds she passes through stone gates

smelling wounds she passes through stone gates

my thighs a waltz of wind i sweat guitars

Insha-allah empty villa on Bosphorus|#haiku

ditches of pheromones old ashtray|#haiku

Elah Illa-ah... feet along
Turkish parapet

morning finds me masturbating laughter turgid day

embankment back door ajar whippoorwills

young and aged hands porcelain brazier glows

unsung leaves mouth of autumn acapella

i hve been woman i hve been a silent reprieve

breakfast of cotton sheets chrysanthemums absorb our sounds

chickory coffee sun lassoed by the cup's tip

345 pm spy master folded up in shadows

hunger stenciled against a sleeping stomach

whitewashed celibacy in then out myself

near Koto garden of dead prayers her smile

parked car assignations at my glass's bottom

tree lined street serrated discontent in every home

next door neighbor sun tans brisk eyes fold back on themselves

ballerina veins alive with feet of marijuana

valley of dolls dead ashes stained with exertion

valley of dolls i am surrealist woman of arsenic

bed naked against Mahler's song cycle

this nascent silence unhinged my sleep

upscale morning spent a Tiffany's

half glass of wine angry piano score played

splattering of sleep mahler against blades of grass #haiku

one scream tossed in the belly of memory

unable to comprehend a night hilit a cancerous laugh

facilitate an in of empty outs blind rain

nursing home discarded souls collected in sepia

you in the middle of me bronze sky

relief found a small bag back room i snort it

casual rocking of train i am holding my insecurities in place

damp roof when we make love merged shadows

from my thighs amber afternoons blindly finding me

rusted commode my countenance withheld from mirrors

love for you a phylactery on my brow

breakfast nook on his lap children in school all day

torah studies one wrinkle in Rabbi's robe

slight depression in backyard he grabs my dress

ash blonde hair'd woman train station without color

cabin of logs pitter patter of trespassing rain #haiku

stretch out morning conjugations prayers frm you, colored teal

first night in Beauregard parish: bon chance

old cashmere coat carrying your humanity

2am coffee talk with self unclear intent #haiku

h i s p a r t e d l i p s a b l e m i s h e d u n i v e r s e # s e n r y û

burning log embers congregate en concert #haiku

i am creole prayer exorcising spotted shadows frm now

it is day i undulate movement string up breath

summer heat
invading each man's
muscular structure #haiku

out of bed out of himself

festering afternoon bloodies us with light #haiku

mid morning
your footsteps a
salivating wind

coffee break
my eyes her blue blouse
his on me

around unfamiliar house old photo of better days

train platform
his coming never materializes

untamed morning hustle creatures rush to work

cello interlude morning hustle downtown

morning never makes it pass closed blinds down pillows

arrangement of edelweiss fog of sleep in your eyes

let us look at
these reforms to our love.
  --scathing words pass

morning
fragments of my life
adorn a bare table

2 senryu

warm house drone of the air unit eating pea soup


this writing too liberal i am hung from a cross

often times i
move beyond me in my robe
   a new realm

hotel by the coast 77 rooms my man and his mistress

to peer into my history eyes raking dead clouds from view #senryu #haiku

discovering my body a rough tarp over the pick-up

your fast beat
 i am a strident wind needing grass #haiku #senryu

this cantankerous wind pillage whats left of the rain #haiku

i welcome a raping
wind in my creole manpoems
           --veteran's day

i am expanded
i am suddenly a burst
of primal tears

she and i. i and she. weselves...sprig of heather for memory

midnight dance old juke joint where i get loose

colliseum late afternoon my thoughts slightly gladiatorial

this middle aged laughter my body misplaced by thought

unresponsive to my touch cluster of grapes sing

in prayer
your laughter kissing
our spines

morning swim laughter cuts this hallowed air #haiku

over two
decades still tasting his
heartbeat

casino in the distance next door savoring creole food

new buckets of varnish grandson tells me he's gay

supermarket bitch next door flirting with my butcher

several years ago young tonight age like fine dust

i am allowed to be woman out of tune piano warms up

sanctified in newspaper my husband stirs up dust

old dirt road i am banished within myself

6 senryu

carving my touch after 5 cocktail gown

near a broken fence she speaks of some god

old cabin uncovering dusty memories

shadow of sun my voice becomes droning dulcimer

in a house not my own bell rung for dead ancestor

peeling myself from day empty lobby

2 haiku

sharing an old toothbrush our verandah wears thick fog #haiku

near a coal stove his lips taste of bare branches #haiku

5 senryu

from before  comes his rigid touch  comes a crushing wind

midnight  anna's neighbor  wails a lonely blues

late afternoon your smile my revolving door

mountain air creak of granny's porch chair

3rd night alone he becomes a negro spiritual

mon coeur s'ouvre... // dinner // along the Rue d'Orleans

midnight church service offers herself to ba'al

pagan women weep for tammuz corner of duval & 32nd

abstaining from self love brittle silence

you depart dusk rides an airplane

after rehearsal rest old feeling of laziness

afternoon bloodsongs set in g minor

sleepy thumbing pages of music

behind vacant bungalow fresh young man bends moon

wooden table // his and her deoderants // contentment

buttoning // his pants i // adjust shirt shadows

empty house // our moans // mingle

old portrait // grandad's sadness // shadow among dust #nahaiwrimo #haiku

old portrait // grandad's sadness // shadows among fine dust| #naihaiwrimo

hepatica roots man's voice amber alto

empty house // our moans // mingle #erotic #senryu

afternoon voice rehearsal ceiling dust pauses to listen

old tin roof morning prayers in the cold #haiku

dust arranged in a pattern along my carpet #haiku

another cracked cup studying a Handel score

amaryllis scent // mingles with my pianissimo // afternoon rehearsal #haiku

btwn dreams // of turpentine maneuer // bail of hay #haiku

frustration // who cares about // juxtaposition in haikai

by the harbor // Bach weaves // morning walkmelodies

old grill // incense of labor day // our backyard

this morning ritual // talk. coffee. // hand to thigh

flaking house paint i trade eyes with mail carrier

balsam leaves morning heaving and panting|#haiku

peeling dreams from dry skin cool sheets

confessional // absolution of sins // spoke in senryu

damn dog // mornin' slumber // im plotting murder

midday // i protest activist-like // your indifference to we

i reach full maturity when i gather my breasts. my bones. and walk

in deep silence // i often staple memories // to construction paper

i have polarized our togetherness // rusted steel pan

my bones react // room is made // my menstration is sea foam

mouth's center // camellia splits // open with attitude

each moment hid in an egg basket whitewashed regret

each motion // sacred disturbance // of air

i am still rummaging for me wool coat even closer

flash of a // blue snuggie // your late arrival

time collapses // near the coast // a blues i drink

morning // takes baby steps // his body warm

in my eyes // marbelized serpents // speak salmon clouds

do not speak // these dixie-land words // how they swell

your words // rising like // newborn fog

somedays // tasting our ritual // bloodletting

ear strain // your heart // swallowing night

some nights // i carry russet moons // in a glass womb

disassembling my robe moontouched hands ease night into me

dirt floors // and ivory walls // mouthful of poverty

my thoughts // mutiny against // ordered thinking|

in me // a full orchestra // tunes A=445

shuddering leaf // epicenter of earth // bowls over

proud festival // each breath // a raw bazaar

on my porch i peer into night's face heavy wind

kicking gravel // it whispers // of yesterday's rain

fresh rain // fragments of a woman // touch me

church steeple // flecks of morning and mud // stain the car

egypt in your // tongue right now all sand //
and sphinx touches

garment bag // evidence of my // arrivals & departures

tired carrying // misplaced stars // hot tea

sound of // pages turning... // dwntwn traffic

i look at you- // faint wind // in the curtains

wool coat // against ostracized // mornings

in my eyes // he sees a golden // god on dry lips

mornin' // bend toward the
controversy of day

i look at you // faint wind // in the curtains

your leaving // woke me // early evening

tired carrying // misplaced stars // hot tea

weary ear // hearing arthritic words // unable to know

you carry // the ruins of one breath // avid footsteps

rabid hands castrate people's barren glances al fresco

her body // arching blk rainbow // in my hands

night // wind seperates our // long touches

my man
one loooooong fury
unleashed

within a long comma
     my pulse

over unstable ground
moving toward
split level seas

clay jars/ his shadow/ casting odd colors

lachrymose water
murmurs-
cabal of raindrops on my porch

sudden downpour-
breasts in my hands