Author: William Cowan

  • Decoy

    There is tender summary to report In our coming closing. All our products will sink To all your devices After a synchronized fashion Telling us how well you are To fit into our game plan For crashing developments. Refreshments follow the plying opportunity. Any adjustments to be made continue. He didn’t know how to tell…

  • Night

    And the dark is full.  One green, gold Streetlight.  The dog somewhere outside across the street Gives a conversational bark satisfied he is outside home. Insects commiserate with each other over tales We will never know.  A couple of voices Pass by in quiet repose.   Cars languidly slide by receding Into the impermanence of…

  • Texture, Flavor on A Worn Table

    1. We evolve into people we don’t recognize. All the years of pictures present ongoing evidence. 2. There is nowhere to sit and just one menu. The staff is hurried, yet reserved. There are no reservations to be gained. We order what we hated long ago. What is good for you takes on new meaning.

  • Quietly Fall

    Pale petals fall on this autumn day, curl oblong & blank, stare at the sky like feline Asian eyes. Trails of mist spray over the soil, vacant tendrils reach for the light. Gradually, the sun coats the fence with pastel shadows. Fits of breeze strike chairs turned to dusk. In calamity we find our limits.…

  • Convection Scan for John Ashbery

    The red taillights, car & all disappear by themselves down the long avenue. Most things take the same amount of time. The idea behind thought is to make things faster. No flipping or arranging trays of meaning suffices. You must try to get it over & over. An isolated cluster of nation building satisfies some.…

  • Choices for Rae Armantrout

    1. Vaseline eases some things along, even those that need further resistance. If we leave all options on the table can it hold the “weight?” What transpires is action animated by a lack of seeing where we could be, i.e., r.p.g. & thee, etc. 2. Relations age some explode ask the Afghans you never know…

  • currently

    There are wisps of recurring conversations, whispers of parents, college friends, favorite movies, music coming in & out of focus. Favorite cigarette moments with different women. Ethereal galleons floating on vagrant winds unseen. They come back in the dead of night when nothing is held back & an ancient calliope can he heard. If I…

  • Hum It For Me

    I could not whistle when I was young it took awhile before it begun The girls were distant when I was shy then I did not know why And yet it did all come round the held note the girl who wrote she cared for me when I was young it took awhile before it…

  • At the Matinee

    At the matinee at one in the afternoon on a bright, open day means a number of things. The need to wrap- up in a blanket, a haven from the world we struggle in. The breeze spins lightly through the vast parking lot. The sun requires sunglasses to find your way to the glass doors,…

  • On Being

    To get up every day with a purpose is a joy. To go out in the world, see clearly, be where you are. A sage from long ago said: “when hungry I eat. When tired I sleep.” And, I write to see where it goes, to go where it leads. What is there to see?…