POETRY

“Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.”
—Rita Dove
painting of apple and grapes
Feast Of

anger, like you can sink teeth into, candy apple

woman at bar
After She Told Me You Pushed Her Down the Stairs

Empty vessels
make the most sound, I think,
as you rip the fairy lights off the handrail.

The Kotel in Jerusalem is Filled with Cracks

We found in his suitcase T-shirts, his siddur, gifts he bought for his grandchildren…

Tea

my father holds
his favorite drink

Clotheslines

Ma wrings
a wet world
of colors

REVENGE SCENE

Okay, picture this: We’re in an elevator. The elevator shuts down. It doesn’t matter where we’re going, only that we’re alone.

Lobster

I suffer visions and many indignities
while looking for the Lobster

Sadness is a Sin

If my life was the size of my arm, I would stretch it out for you.

Sprung (April)

I like to think I’m also sprung,
released from the furnace knocks,
done with the heavy meat stews
and salty soups.

Time Travel

I count my homes—
those of my scattered youth
the sanctuary of our young family
the intermittent rest stops
of apartments and vacations.

Back Suplex

Gravel-scatted hell &
we were blessed to be able
to hold on for even a heartbeat

Despairathon

You’ve spent a lifetime training
for this.

The Body is a Sin

The sin is existing.

An Interview with Brian S. Ellis

The poetry of Brian S. Ellis unravels, inverts, investigates, and complicates. His poems are radical koans and invitations to forego common narratives.

Several someones

a folksome, gruesome opera
of gauze and malcontent.

Mom, in Her Dementia, Steals Oranges

and apples, mackintosh mostly, but any kind left in The Pub
at the Assisted Living Place

Aging Punks

Every so often, they add a tattoo
in honor of some long-forgotten love.

The love of my life moved from portland to new england

He has stories that I am not in
anymore. It’s healed this way.

love poem with dead leaves & color

I would always rather be happy than
dignified. Rather held than held
in awe.

melting ice cap
blue is the color of surrender

you know that
baby swallows make silver ripples
in wild rivers to court reeds?