Two POEMS
Rodrigo Toscano
The Spot
But if a 60 ft. curling wave of
heavy flying foam
surges up
your avenues
submerging all
in its path
till it reaches
this hilltop
then recedes
barreling back
to shore
dragging all down
with it—
What with the 90 ft. wall of sea
behind it?
Time to flee—
But where?
All directions
downslopes
valleys like buckets
under lakes of
gurgling green
mindless mass
churning
vanishing
all that was
a moment ago—
Then look up
last sight of the sun
balmy breeze
no word-life to tend
no values to push
no dotting p’s and q’s
of a morning song
perfecting the tone
proportioned
rhythms of
surging intellect
fusing onto
unlaced emotion
meandering
scraping the rocks
of morality
extruding
out-of-the-clouds
carnality
clasping at
torrid detail
the slips
the sways
pooling there
gouges in time
tacking towards
a terminus
vast
buffeted
by sudden cold
rushing wind
with a thick
earthy
aroma
filling your lungs—
Air! Air! Air!
Then awake—
This searing sunlight
caressing
the unblinking
blank expression
of your gut’s
raw intention
is the rudder
of your tottering skiff
skimming the edges of
these populated beaches—
That there
on shore--
is your spot
See you there
Theatrics of the Continental Shelf
There’s always the crumbling cliffside
to boost your sense of finitude
transposing high hopes to bonkers
On top of that, there’s gray herons
doing whatever they do right
bewitched by things seen and unseen
That this shrub needs a pinch of salt
blown to it daily by the sea
makes for a fogbank of good sense
There’s calcified thrills in the sand
arranged to bequeath solutions
soon, you’ll dig’em up, one by one
O! What bottomless purple hues!
but how extrapolate from sunbeams
same for – O! What ominous green!
The pebbles are becoming round
the seaweed tangles into knots
the fogbank bonks out, then ascends
There’s always the lone pelican
compounding an impulse to sleep
affirming the mandate to wake
But if a 60 ft. curling wave of
heavy flying foam
surges up
your avenues
submerging all
in its path
till it reaches
this hilltop
then recedes
barreling back
to shore
dragging all down
with it—
What with the 90 ft. wall of sea
behind it?
Time to flee—
But where?
All directions
downslopes
valleys like buckets
under lakes of
gurgling green
mindless mass
churning
vanishing
all that was
a moment ago—
Then look up
last sight of the sun
balmy breeze
no word-life to tend
no values to push
no dotting p’s and q’s
of a morning song
perfecting the tone
proportioned
rhythms of
surging intellect
fusing onto
unlaced emotion
meandering
scraping the rocks
of morality
extruding
out-of-the-clouds
carnality
clasping at
torrid detail
the slips
the sways
pooling there
gouges in time
tacking towards
a terminus
vast
buffeted
by sudden cold
rushing wind
with a thick
earthy
aroma
filling your lungs—
Air! Air! Air!
Then awake—
This searing sunlight
caressing
the unblinking
blank expression
of your gut’s
raw intention
is the rudder
of your tottering skiff
skimming the edges of
these populated beaches—
That there
on shore--
is your spot
See you there
Theatrics of the Continental Shelf
There’s always the crumbling cliffside
to boost your sense of finitude
transposing high hopes to bonkers
On top of that, there’s gray herons
doing whatever they do right
bewitched by things seen and unseen
That this shrub needs a pinch of salt
blown to it daily by the sea
makes for a fogbank of good sense
There’s calcified thrills in the sand
arranged to bequeath solutions
soon, you’ll dig’em up, one by one
O! What bottomless purple hues!
but how extrapolate from sunbeams
same for – O! What ominous green!
The pebbles are becoming round
the seaweed tangles into knots
the fogbank bonks out, then ascends
There’s always the lone pelican
compounding an impulse to sleep
affirming the mandate to wake
Rodrigo Toscano is a poet and dialogist based in New Orleans. He is the author of eleven books of poetry. His latest books are The Cut Point (Counterpath Press, 2023) and The Charm & The Dread (Fence Books, 2022). Forthcoming is WHITMAN. CANNONBALL. PUEBLA. (2025). His Collapsible Poetics Theater was a National Poetry Series selection. His poetry has appeared in Best American Poetry and Best American Experimental Poetry (BAX). rodrigotoscano.com