Poems by Louis Phillips

SPACES

Caterwauling for love
In infinite spaces
Of woo, my brain
Dances the very easy
Magna Cum Stupidity
Stomp.

All the way down,
Fine mesh
Of star-crossed musings,
Intergalactic funiculars
Going nowhere fast

In my childhood
I traveled in gangs,
Stealing goods & affection,
So long lost
Amid scattered debris
Of Saturday afternoon
Double-features,
My Flash Gordon Ray Gun
Abandoned
On some riverbank.

The world awaited
To be rediscovered,
Made new all over again.

Now, 80 years later
I am the Magellan
Of my bedroom,
Awaiting  continents
Of love to rise mysteriously
Out of far-away oceans.

SPEAKING

All those wars to mull over
& all those theories &
Testosterone naughtiness
Raised to the power of x.
So much to talk about,
But watch what you’re saying

Or someone will come along
To wipe the smile
Off your face.  King Kong
& Queen Elizabeth –
How many times will those 2
Crop up in the same sentence?
What wd they talk about?

It is possible to sit in room
With people you love
& allow the silence
To do the speaking.
The sound of my parents’ voices:
I have no recordings
To fall back on.

So much of life is talk.
What is prayer but so much talk
To gods without ears.
Talk, talk, talk.
Where do all those words go
When we are done with them.