Category Archives: Winter

Winter Solstice

Posted on Friday, December 22nd, 2017 12:23 pm by John MacKenzie

I lay in bed not thinking until I thought of your breath rising slow Between me and the hill silhouetted Against the lemony western sky Towards the last thin peel of moon Curling away into the night. Below us, skin … Continue reading →

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No Roadside Assistance

Posted on Friday, February 26th, 2016 3:31 pm by John MacKenzie

February ends The moon’s a blown-out tire, flat Slapping on asphalt The bent rim rolls on and on Trailing sparks across the night

Posted in Art, Art is lies, Art is theft, Cosmology, Hank Williams, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie Poetry, Micropoetry, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Space, Tanka, Tanka, The Moon, The Sky, Time, Winter | Leave a comment

February Haiku

Posted on Thursday, February 19th, 2015 11:49 am by John MacKenzie

Snow piled to the eaves— now who complains we don’t live amidst abundance?

Posted in Aphorephemera, Haiku, John MacKenzie, Language, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Winter | Tagged aphorephemera, haiku, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, Language, new poems, poem tweets, poetry, winter | Leave a comment

So Long

Posted on Saturday, September 27th, 2014 5:16 pm by John MacKenzie

Today the gulls have come down out of the north wind and sit restlessly on the water in the lee of the city. Are you listening to them, their sea of melancholy voices as monotonous as the waves? Why does … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Charlottetown, Gulls, Harbour, John MacKenzie, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Sonnet, The Sea, The Sky, The Wind, Time, Winter | Tagged art is lies, Charlottetown, gulls, harbour, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, new poems, poem tweets, poetry, sonnet, the sea, the sky, the wind, time, winter | Leave a comment

Connaught Square

Posted on Sunday, September 21st, 2014 11:21 am by John MacKenzie

Who mourns these elms, diseased, inconsolate, their long, undulant limbs dropping leaves earlier each year, small disasters splitting the rough bark of lesser branches, peeling it away from the tips down, little by little, while the wood begins to silver … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Autumn, Charlottetown, Dutch elm disease, Elms, John MacKenzie, Language, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Social Commentary, Sonnet, Spring, The Rain, The Wind, Time, Winter | Tagged art is lies, Autumn, Charlottetown, Dutch elm disease, elms, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, new poems, poem tweets, poetry, social commentary, sonnet, spring, the rain, the wind, time, winter | 2 Comments

Self-Portrait of a Blind Man at Evening

Posted on Saturday, September 6th, 2014 11:39 am by John MacKenzie

Self-Portrait of a Blind Man at Evening Maybe you’ve seen him by the harbour in the south wind, listening, trying to hear over waves the distant fugue whale pods still continually compose off Chile in groans of carbon compressing … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Art is theft, Autumn, Blue Heron, Charlottetown, Crows, Geology, Gravity, Harbour, John MacKenzie, New poems, Pablo Neruda, Poem tweets, Poetry, The Moon, The Sea, The Sky, The Wind, Whales, Winter | Tagged art is lies, art is theft, Autumn, blue heron, Charlottetown, crows, geology, gravity, harbour, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, new poems, Pablo Neruda, poem tweets, poetry, the moon, the sea, the sky, the wind, whales, winter | Leave a comment

The Dead of Winter (a pantoum resurrection pantomime)

Posted on Friday, February 28th, 2014 11:39 am by John MacKenzie

In the oaks where the brown leaves loiter as impetuous March approaches singing empty promises of spring, the blackbirds accrete in dark clusters. As impetuous March approaches, strung with palm fronds, smeared with ashes, the blackbirds accrete in dark clusters … Continue reading →

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South Wind on a February Morning

Posted on Friday, February 14th, 2014 5:09 am by John MacKenzie

As an idle child wanders the house rattling fingernails on teeth, so the south wind fitfully taps rain against the windows

Posted in Art is lies, John MacKenzie, Micropoetry, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Tanka, The Rain, The Wind, Winter | Tagged art is lies, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, micropoetry, new poems, poem tweets, poetry, tanka, the rain, the wind, winter | Leave a comment

A Late Winter Gull Pantoum

Posted on Thursday, February 6th, 2014 11:39 am by John MacKenzie

The mourning gulls, still, whiten the rocks as winter stretches out toward spring; the sparse, hoarded light of yesterdays slowly relinquished by heavy eyes. As winter stretches out toward spring, like a reluctant child clinging to sleep (slowly relinquished by … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Charlottetown, Gulls, Harbour, John MacKenzie, Memory, New poems, Pantoum, Poem tweets, Poetry, Spring, The Brain, The Sea, The Sky, Winter | Tagged art is lies, Charlottetown, gulls, harbour, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, memory, new poems, pantoum, poem tweets, poetry, spring, the brain, the sea, the sky, winter | 1 Comment

The Wild Geese are > Me, < You

Posted on Sunday, February 2nd, 2014 11:39 am by John MacKenzie

More than three months since we saw the wild geese threaded into the invisible needle of instinct pulling their long and mournful strands into divergence while calculus stitched every long wing and wingbeat precisely into place in the turbulent slipstream … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Art is theft, Biology, Cliches, John MacKenzie, Language, Memory, New poems, Physics, Poem tweets, Poetry, Process, Social Commentary, Sonnet, The Sky, Time, Wild Geese, Winter | Tagged art is lies, art is theft, biology, clichés, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, memory, new poems, physics, poem tweets, poetry, process, social commentary, sonnet, the sky, time, wild geese, winter | Leave a comment

Walking By the Harbour In January

Posted on Friday, January 24th, 2014 1:34 pm by John MacKenzie

Snow squalls at low tide hid the bumps and cracks of ice over the mudflats as time and wishful memory hide cracks and flaws in us On the wind today I thought I heard your voice from the white winter … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Charlottetown, Gulls, Harbour, John MacKenzie, Memory, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, The Sea, The Sky, The Wind, Time, Winter | Tagged art is lies, Charlottetown, gulls, harbour, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, memory, new poems, poem tweets, poetry, the sea, the sky, the wind, time, winter | Leave a comment

The Moon Through Thin Gauze

Posted on Thursday, January 16th, 2014 11:39 am by John MacKenzie

It’s January— I peer through thin gauze curtains of cloud at the moon dancing alone, white and full, as you once danced in this room

Posted in Art is lies, Charlottetown, John MacKenzie, Memory, Micropoetry, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Tanka, The Moon, Time, Winter | Tagged art is lies, Charlottetown, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, memory, micropoetry, new poems, poem tweets, poetry, tanka, the moon, time, winter | Leave a comment

A Cohen Pastiche

Posted on Saturday, January 11th, 2014 3:34 pm by John MacKenzie

In the morning the moon rises In your eyes paler than January skies The cedars are heavy with the snow of our dreams And I tell you that love was never how it seemed And you say that in your … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Art is theft, Cedars, John MacKenzie, Leonard Cohen, New poems, Pastiche, Poem tweets, Poetry, The Moon, The Rain, Winter | Tagged art is lies, art is theft, cedars, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, Leonard Cohen, new poems, pastiche, poem tweets, poetry, the moon, the rain, winter | Leave a comment

Frost Chrysanthemums (Chinese poetry)

Posted on Tuesday, January 7th, 2014 11:49 am by John MacKenzie

Another old Chinese poem. Again, no idea who the author was. And again, worked from a literal translation by Andrew Griffin, which is below the poem. Frost Chrysanthemums In one night the autumn wind split open all the seams of … Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Griffin, Art is lies, Art is theft, Autumn, Chinese poetry, John MacKenzie, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Spring, The Sky, The Wind, Time, Winter | Tagged Andrew Griffin, art is lies, art is theft, Autumn, chinese poetry, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, new poems, poem tweets, poetry, spring, the sky, the wind, time, winter | 4 Comments

January’s Crescent Moon

Posted on Sunday, January 5th, 2014 6:35 pm by John MacKenzie

Look, January’s shallow hammock of moon swings slow, bright in the dark— come with me and let’s climb in together, sway through the night

Winter Plum (a slightly more faithful translation)

Posted on Wednesday, January 1st, 2014 1:39 pm by John MacKenzie

The original, with Andrew Griffin’s literal translation, is at the bottom. Winter Plum The mountain wind startles half the flowers on your branches into bursting open. How long have you stood at the edge of this cliff alone in your … Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Griffin, Art is lies, Art is theft, Chinese poetry, John MacKenzie, Plum Blossoms, Poem tweets, Poetry, Recent poems, The Wind, Time, Winter | Tagged Andrew Griffin, art is lies, art is theft, chinese poetry, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, plum blossoms, poem tweets, poetry, Recent poems, the wind, time, winter | 2 Comments

Winter Plum Blossoms

Posted on Friday, December 27th, 2013 4:09 pm by John MacKenzie

This afternoon, Andrew Griffin and I sat at Mr Sushi and mistranslated a poem that’s painted on the wall there. I have no idea who wrote it, but I’m sure it’s a famous old poem. The uncertainty of its authorship … Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Griffin, Art is lies, Art is theft, Chinese poetry, John MacKenzie, New poems, Plum Blossoms, Poem tweets, Poetry, The Wind, Time, Winter | Tagged Andrew Griffin, art is lies, art is theft, chinese poetry, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, new poems, plum blossoms, poem tweets, poetry, the wind, time, winter | 2 Comments

Muffled In Late December Snow

Posted on Sunday, December 22nd, 2013 11:41 am by John MacKenzie

Hello again, Death. You came this year muffled in late December snow, strung yourself with pale blue lights, and waited in yards and trees, watching. We knew you were near. And we tried to prepare, to insulate. But you are … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Chemistry, Consciousness, Death, Epistemology, Evolution, John MacKenzie, Memory, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Science, Sonnet, The Wind, Winter | Tagged biology, chemistry, consciousness, death, epistemology, evolution, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, memory, new poems, poem tweets, poetry, science, sonnet, the wind, winter | 2 Comments

Boy, with Skates

Posted on Friday, December 13th, 2013 1:55 pm by John MacKenzie

His scarf glittering with ice condensed out of breath trailing thin, gray wool past his shoulder in the wind, he sits watching the pond freeze

Posted in Art is lies, Consciousness, John MacKenzie, Memory, Micropoetry, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Tanka, The Wind, Time, Winter | Tagged art is lies, consciousness, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, memory, micropoetry, new poems, poem tweets, poetry, tanka, the wind, time, winter | Leave a comment

The Old Moments (that clutter the night)

Posted on Thursday, December 5th, 2013 11:24 am by John MacKenzie

The pines are black in the dim evening; between them and the house he’s created a host of snow angels to carry away the old moments that clutter the yard. He handled them too often, those moments. Even touched with … Continue reading →

Posted in Art is lies, Consciousness, John MacKenzie, Memory, New poems, Poem tweets, Poetry, Sonnet, The Brain, The Moon, Time, Winter | Tagged art is lies, consciousness, John MacKenzie, John MacKenzie poetry, memory, new poems, poem tweets, poetry, sonnet, the brain, the moon, time, winter | 1 Comment

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