John Knoepfle

sandalwood poem #1 decaying shadows a compost of dreams a million galaxies sparrow sparrow you have mistaken the air © John Knoepfle 1978, 2004

old emblems where we have gone into our other selves we do not need to find each other at home in that country or bother to know what we know beloved things familiar images a place of concord the lights that burn there burn without flickering © John Knoepfle 2004

when the residency ends it is only in the unfolding of the rose that you know the pulse of the rose and the giver when something goes dark behind your eyes © John Knoepfle 2004

boop I talked with this rabbi this was in california he came to celebrate a wedding had these suspenders two columns of betty boops I said well rabbi those are some suspenders he said he liked them but his wife thought they were a little bit much he used to be a wrestler wrestled when […]

outdoor stage this space so empty in the wind a silence this evening where it seems only the silence itself has meaning until one night in a thousand this nondescript shred of humanity creeps into a surprise of light an apology coming forward on the stage a man trembling with uncertainty that no one has […]

sister miriams poem now a dark matter our perfumed space polished with light a woman combing her long hair beyond existence beyond our coming and going where his sandals were a scent lingering from compassion the blast of crude nails cannot change this the old sister will tell you martha did her part she expects […]

i can’t think of a title well there is one child standing on two children and these two are standing on three children so that makes six six children and my granddaughter has this stuffed dog named ben goes with her on long flights from alaska and this dog can spell MOM for no particular […]

sad young man singing   crunchbirds and stormfoxes here I am and Im eighteen so what the hell if the light is green Ive got nowhere to go theres my father hes fifty-four theres my mother shes forty-two so tell me what am I to do Ive got nowhere to go what if the woman […]

in sligo at the grave of yeats limestone slab here at the curbing on the edge of this english cemetery a place for you and wife george your words still sharp from the chisel you commanded would be done they sent the corvette macha and eleven days at sea bringing you home piped you ashore […]

young girl singing my father is looking at me and I am shamefaced I don’t know why he is smiling my mother is singing in the kitchen my brothers are winking they are making silly faces I hope he does not see me peering through the blinds he has come walking by my house fourteen […]

cats in chelsea cat #ii meepy fine old white and gray oh marvelous cat sitting upright your four paws contiguous cat for a pharaoh to brag on or a master of zen to envy and who would dare bother you calling your name expecting that you would cuddle a peaceful afternoon in his arms when […]

mano this stone the life in it those who shaped it trusting their own culture walking this continent simply at home this essential implement these edges indented sides disturbed a form a possibility that would crack leg bones for marrow a maul a grinder for seeds a stone for a man a woman already restless […]