Starling Then & Now

the earth shudders
the starving cloud startles
screams over me
they the oak
shake the mast from every tree
dust from my only eye
devour the sun in their violence
then the earth
any hope remaining
for the survival
of
far
away
stars

jppestana
Devoured
12.24.2019

Before the Before

if you wish for me
I will call to you
carry my voice in my tired hands
from across the thoughtless setting sun

these bits of me you knew
flakes of a breathless rust
from the metal
of my being
have no bearing here
no place for these far away sorrows
the far cries of those wanting
waiting to be heard
before the
before

jppestana
Before
11.23.2019

Eruptions



in thinking 
I stand well below the sunken volcanoes long risen in the western sky
the late afternoon drifts away peacefully
I expect it to say something to me
is this a living thing or not I ask
is this the promised marriage of ancient waves splashing over ancient sands
and the land fully ruptured forces breathes out towers of fire steam ash
catches me unaware like a weakened insect spiraling madly to its death
then lost in the agony eruption
of some petrified
traceless
emotion

jppestana
Eruptions
9.5.2019

Peas & Carrots

I believe in the glory of peas
and carrots
some small perfections round
diced tender sweet
coated in a sunny butter sauce
held in a tiny china bowl
eaten with a smoothly worn spoon
lifting lingering silvery notes
of the bossa
nova

thinking here the thin blue line of sky divides me
razors away slicing open the warming soul
peeking into a momentary eternity
playful eyes of a sun filled moon
and the most revealing flavors
of peas and
carrots

jpestana
9.22.2019
Peas & carrots

Peas & Carrots

I believe in the glory of peas
and carrots
some small perfections round
diced tender sweet
coated in a sunny butter sauce
held in a tiny china bowl
eaten with a smoothly worn spoon
lifting lingering silvery notes
of the bossa
nova

thinking here the thin blue line of sky divides me
razors away slicing open the warming soul
peeking into a momentary eternity
playful eyes of a sun filled moon
and the most revealing flavors
of peas and
carrots

jpestana
Peas & Carrots
9.22019

So You Say

linger here 

the horizons you left before me

vaster than your most curious smile 

open the tilted door to a delicate whiteness

pervasive it spills into me 

overflows

by the way look no more

the sun is hung where you left it

the small talk of your lonely echoes overheard

by no one scrape 

the skin of my tongue 

produce the sound of things 

falling outside the what

of us

and do you look at me 

when your eyes are closed to the unknowing world

when you linger there surprised

when I ask about your hidden universe

when you turn to me whispering

so you 

say

jppestana

10.16.2019

So You Say

The Jellybean Stone

under what stars
the sweet giggle of tiniest blue eyes
takes night and hearts with them
she has a jar full of little stones saved
mostly old broken
worn away to
almost
nothing

but then her hand clasps round the buried sparkle
squeals holding her well loved 
jellybean stone
in kindness she hands it
to the silent man standing
lost in what is left
of this

and he squeezes making his only wish
and the air is only fresh rain
and the air is
everything
there
is

The Jellybean Stone
JP Pestana
10.4.2019