Stanley Gemmell

And Samantha I'm telling you
Standing stones, old Druid bones
(You have to see this to believe it)
I believe in her sweet angled hips
samantha-stone Observatory for
Three thousand Years
gorgeous I barely - I barely
Know her or her bare shoulder
Cool and sweet to the touch...
Tense tenth
time to look
at her knee-high boots
(I stole a pack of cigarettes
from a truck w/opened windows)...

#2

Samantha is
Samantha

Is my most beautiful, stolen poem
(Stolen from The Druids
who in turn had stolen
from The Greeks
who in turn had stolen
gods from Aegypt-

words from the god
of all things written-

deeds dead to the cool
touch of her shoulder)

What is most beautiful is stolen
Samantha is Samantha

#3

After writing each sonnet I smoke
A stolen cigarette. She is my jerk-off
Fantasy girl with a perfect body. The
Beautiful sunlight angers me.
Madness watches over me.
Samantha washes over me.
Fucking Parliament Lights suck
Or maybe it's just that I'm
Alone.

People in cars wash by
I watch them watch me,
High.
I see Druids
W/needles in their arms.

#4

Samantha is
Samantha

Is my most beautiful, stolen poem
(Stolen the way storm-clouds steal
light - Who in the world
dark and stolen - Stand stones
in solemn circles
for the solstice-

stones from the god
of the drumbeat-

stones from the god
of the virgins)

What is most beautiful is stolen
Samantha is Samantha

#5

The house of my friends down the road
burned down.

A child plays with matches
Now he's loose on the town.

You are like that
An absent book.

Flames
my face

Music
my face

You are like that
An absent book.

My face
My face

#6

if I hadn't stolen the cigarettes
I would have knocked on their door
distracting the child from
playing w/matches
& burning the whole
house down.

the druids favored
antares to aldebaran
which star I was
born under.

here and now
solitude

in the city
awash with crickets: the night.

#7

I do the dishes
Samantha

I am on the other side
Samantha

Blest is he who fucks you
Samantha

Druids in a circle of stones
Samantha

Amy's house burnt down
Samantha

The secret name of God
Samantha

I am on the other side
Samantha

#10

I have a dream
of the body of a woman
a wind instrument
beautiful serpent
asleep in the arms
of the dawn
of this poem

Her long and sloping shoulder
Her back of delicate bone
Curving, breathing rain and word

Releasing poison
with the morning gold

warmth in my world
teeth in my vein
Samantha is a stranger who lives far away,
like the snow.

#14

Smoking Kamel Reds
(great tasting cigarette)

Woke up to a morning
speaking Spanish,
reading Martin Luther
King, Jr. & Georg Trakl

Watching a neighbor
struggle to fit a huge couch
through their front door,
my uncle crosses the street to help

The sun splashes into the yard
The street is warmed

The crickets song has not stopped
It is laced with wind

#15

Samantha you are like a lunar dolphin
your dancer's body is lean and turbulent

You are like a prayer
moist on your tongue

pink from slow circles on your belly
when you dark and sexual

obscure and softly moaning
smoke from another man's mouth

Samantha-breath

Stanley Gemmell was born in Puerto Rico, in 1972. His work has appeared in "The Alembic, Providence College Literary Journal", "Melange Journal", "The Rush-Ins Reader", and is forthcoming in "Disquieting Muses". He divides his time between Puerto Rico and the East Coast and performs his poetry live on-stage, sometimes with musical accompaniment.
 
 
 
 

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