Silver cannon barrels adorned the walls
Bringing the eye upward toward the crucifix
Christ mollified, frozen in time,
Chest bones, protuberances that would have elated a xylophonist.
Body and blood hidden behind golden doors. Read on…
Josef smugly retired behind her eyes,
Jack-booted memories draped lazily over ancient scars;
Crisp German uniform holds sway there
Center stage a Death’s head prominent on his lapel.
Behind the rods and cones Read on…
writing is like any other bodily function
when you have to go you have to go
until you find that you are mostly gone
little more than a shadow cast
from the shell of what you were
by the fierce light of the future Read on…
We are pleased to be able to bring you four new poems from Jan Steckel, who has been featured on our pages before. Her work is always elegantly thoughtful and shines brightly into inky dark corners and sunny green forest clearings alike. Her words are evocatively beautiful, perfectly matched to her themes, sure to bring clear imagery to your mind at her every turn of thought. Jan’s ideas perfectly realize the objectives of our magazine, a rational light showing the … Read on…
The Eloquent Atheist is extremely pleased to welcome Jay Strisak, one of our favorite poets, back to the pages of our little on-line magazine. Click on his name above, and you will be greeted by his older work, which is well worth reading. As far as the new one goes, no poem could be bad when the first line is “The whore of war opens her needle scarred arms…” Click on “Read On” to see the complete poem. The whore … Read on…
Pastors speak of thoughts divine.
I still prefer the human kind.
I move between the earth and sky,
heel and toe,
hip and thigh.
Why might that be That the universe Needs A local habitation And a name? Why might that be That all that is Needs A pet name and A personality? Why might that be That mystery Needs Turned to our ends? To our purposes? Why might that be That our Needs Demand a personality And a name? Why might that be That we Need Gods when all That is is?
I remember a moment when I was 5 and peeing under a tree and thinking about life and about bodies– my body emptying itself under the body of that tree, the huge house of it as I looked up through the muscular branches which seemed as thick around as grown men, and I remember looking down and seeing directly across from me another body– a tiny black foraging body– I was still peeing as I followed it with my eyes … Read on…
How clever, he who thought to name a sin For many things to which we’re so inclined, Since after all, such things must be defined As devilish before we can begin To shed our natures like a serpent’s skin, And give our souls to God; but we’re designed To smile and nod and say that we don’t mind, While countless agonies recoil within. The faithful love to gluttonise their creed, While envying the ones who in their pride Can cast … Read on…
