New | Poetry | Hiram Larew

Photo by Agnishwar Sinha

Clapping Ears                                

If moss is a pal

And pie a heart

And if mud times two

Is a song that starts

From scratch

Then what to do

With such luck

 

What to do

In handstand time

With ears that clap

For rhyming play

And who is who and what will be

With open shirts that climb

To sights sky blue

To beyond

 

And if all of that says Come on!

Don’t not

And trees recline

With every line

Then there it is

Stop to go

Head or toe

Like grateful

 

All to say that when weeds come true

And want the world to know

Forever

Then more and new

And love yes go --

Is just as much

As every handsome echo

Isn’t it.

 

Rain Too

 

Life me here

Far and away

More than ever

Jumbled

 

Life me this

All there is

Fields and nights

Rain too

 

Life me how

Rather than

Whatever it takes

Won’t and will

 

And life me most

Guess or happen

On edge

Even scared

 

Or life me end

Turn over

Long past

So on

 

Depending on How

In case you hadn’t noticed

I wear boxers some

But mostly briefs

 

And my favorite music tends towards smooth

Unless something spicy or crazy pokes up

 

And for me

It’s a toss up –

Religion or mystery

They being almost one in the same

Depending on how many candles are burning

I think

 

So as you may have noticed

I go for this but also that

 

In other words yes

I’m your friend some but kinda a lover too

 

Which is why I’ll make coffee

This morning

As long as the tea doesn’t mind.

 

Ant Hills

 

I love how you emphasize things

When you speak --

There’ll be a pause

As your eyes look out to France

Or somewhere

And then you’ll start up again

And then after a few words

You’ll … again

And that’s it

 

Even the windows clap at your delivery

And chairs look up to see what’s going on

My ears vote Yes for whatever you say

Because of how you say it

Like a fence line looks--

I really do

 

I love what must be a family tradition

(Did someone teach you)

Of stopping the story when it matters

In fact you must be from somewhere

That had what I’d call eager waiting

Almost like ant hills

Because how else would you know

When to hold back until something says Go

It’s amazing --

Everything listening marries you  

Before you even turn around 

I love it

 

Hiccup

 

Wait a minute

Hold on

What you saw me doing when you barged in here

Has nothing to do with you

Nothing at all

 

And I don’t want to hear about the devil

Or a road to hell

Because in the first place you aren’t almighty god

And second of all

What I saw you doing

The other day

Out back

Was pretty something too

 

So there

We’re even

 

And so if you so much as hiccup

About what you saw today

I’ll spread the juicy news about you

Viral

 

So how about

You take your buggy eyes

And get out

 

And while you’re at it

You can tell you and your sorry spy glass

That you’re less than spit

 

Bio: Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary describes Larew's poetry as "dances of self-discovery." Larew who is retired and lives in the U.S. is also the founder of Poetry X Hunger.