Poetry by Patrick Friesen

the moon in the streets

 tonight the moon's sunk into the city
and all the houses are shadows
I thought I wanted to break down walls
but I just want to turn from the snow

I want no one's death but my own
the clarity of a struck piano's key
the fabric of a plucked string
I want to other life than this

everyone's walking in someone else's shoes
the heart disorders the world
love's mayhem and sorrow drifting
with the moon in the streets

music through an open door
the heat of the room billowing out
I see her dancing on the floor
here at the heart of things

it's st. mary at main
where you forget everything
nothing being born
but the light

(Click here for an interpretation of this poem by Cally Feldman.)


oranges and wine

you have to claim demons
wrestle the angel
into the empty chair
you have to eat earth

a woman dances around the table
the waiter sets down sangria
and you drink yourself languid
with the scent of oranges and wine

when you cut yourself on glass
a bead of blood rolls off your hand
and for a moment seethes
as it drops on the stone floor


All poems posted with permission from the author.

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