scraps of rosemary and sage

is anyone going
anywhere near her
where she lives now
in scarborough, yeah,
with the parsley 
the fair and all

should i send
my greetings
some herbs
have you kiss
the eyes of the
one who lives
there

we were something
once upon a time
(mighta said thyme)
then it just ended
maybe she said 
something i said
makes no nevermind
since it's always
gotta be on me

once we were
really something
then it grounded and
thudded to a dull end
we didn't think twice
and it's alright...'

forget about this notion
this greetings with you
i'll just text her this

march 7, 2026
you know what to listen to
when you read this... 

eine perspektivische Etüde

just two of us
lobbied in a 
community kinda
college i never
been to or taught at

me grading exams
him learning to play
the accordion
i sure hope i didn't
distract him too much

Variations on a Theme

salimli alieha
send her my greetings
my wishes for a beautiful life
convey to her my message
my message of love
send her my greetings
and kiss her hands
give her my message of love
that could never be
which she understands 
far better than me...

send her my greetings
our nightimes of kisses
endless and fragrant
in the bath of moonlight
send her my greetings
and these memories
we never made...

sing her my greetings
sing her my greetings
in a longing uşşak
or the mysterious
wisdom of hüzzam
send her my greetings
with this melody in sabah
sing to her my greetings
soulfully from the heart
so she knows...

i miss her greetings
i miss her greetings 
has she forgotten me?
no messages from afar
has she forgotten me?
without her greetings
without her love, i am
but a galley slave
aboard a ghost ship
on this sea of emptiness
i miss her greetings

երազ

by your river or mine?
under your orange tree
or my chestnut or apple?

you leaned against the tree
looking over the river
me lying down looking up
contemplating the bluest sky
through the leaves and branches
flickering sunlight and shadows
upon our very selves lost in
the slow dance of a shared dream

you begin to sing
old love songs, deeply rooted,
in our cultures that are both
so different and the same
you sing so semai-sweetly 
bayati sweetly bitter 
ayp tsa to my ears
acapellic songs of 
of intense yearning
unbearable love
as the river
flowed
on...

and then there's this

always
retooling
retrenching
re-calibrating
rejuvenating
seemingly
forever 
 

oh calm down
take a deep breath
start anew, restart
take a higher road
inspire yourself
be inspiring
be... alive and
just fucking do
    something

you have that cool
aluminum pen
so, sit down
take another
maybe deeper breath
exhale and start
writing some
    better shit 

etudinality

feeling desperation
mid-winter blues? 
cabin fever?
fear of missing out?
no, none of these
not these at all
more a reality check
a settling reality
    of aging out

i'm on another plane
a shorter runway
no air traffic control
and no parachute
but then i ain't flying
    very fast 
    very high or
    very far

the thrilling days...

yesteryearing
not for a lost homeland
a lifestyle never to be
relived by us 
the offspring, the youngens 
of the displaced survivors 
now all gone

yesteryearing 
not for the old west
but the masked hero
the trusted scout
william telling
for law and order 
and justice always
in the purest truest
bestest propgandized
tv show could offer
a fifties kid that
stills lives within
    hiyo silver... away

valentines day 2026