Two Poems by Denver Butson

Issue 64

Found in Willow Springs 86

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drowning ghazal

first line by Vicente Huidobro

I am absent but deep in this absence
asleep but asleep in this absence

glass rattle a tongue remembers rains
how long can one keep in this absence

the waves from far off lisp her name
the brooms of dusk sweep in this absence

rain on the driveway stones is my one morphine
forget counting sheep in this absence

last night I woke in some hotel outside Denver
tried but couldn't weep in this absence

drowning ghazal

first line by Claire Malroux

then to return with your pittance of sky
to bow deeply and bid good riddance to sky

there is a cafe outside the dream station
threads of avenues    ribbons of sky

this is the kind of rain that cities drown in
notice the flooded streets    witness this sky

a can collector woke me this morning
screaming twenty fracs for love    sixpence for sky

in one arrondissement there is rue Denver
a few moments of tree   an instance of sky

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