In-depth

And
inside this night
of monochromatic
light I see
my father stepping further
in the clouds – my fingers
reach to touch your place

still warm two years later, darling
when you sat there naked, lighting
your cigarette on a moonbeam...
Seeing your full face,
bathed in deep

backlight and mild pain
(and how I could go on)
in this musicless room full
of your bright memories
and the words
for everything
except—

Interrogatory

where were you at the night of 22nd this month?

- I was at home, writing poetry

then who is responsible for the outbreak of
World War I, World War II, the Holocaust,
the Armenian genocide, the Nanking Massacre?

- it’s not me

are you responsible for the Space Race,
the Moon landing and
the Cold War?

- no, I was at home, drinking water

were you a friend of Trotsky’s?
and what about Diego Rivera
and Frida Kahlo and were you in
Mexico at
that time?

- absolutely not, I was writing poetry
and drinking water in the desert

are you responsible for the sunsets,
the singing of birds, the beggars,
the tax system and the breast
implants?

- I’ve never seen any of them

and are you to blame of all the bad poetry
in the world?

- yes, oh my god, what should I do?

you need to wake up. now.

- good. I’m up.

is that better?

- no.

Zen

Tao of clouds
white in the endless blue

the wind blows in a gust
after gust
and the black shirt hanging
on the wire is flapping

Because light takes time to reach us, everything we see
is already in the past. The sun you can see out of the window
is 8 minutes and 20 seconds old

The dog behind
the fence barks
at nothing out there.

Peycho Kanev is the author of 4 poetry collections and two chapbooks, published in USA and Europe. He has won several European awards for his poetry and his poems have appeared in many literary magazines, such as: Poetry Quarterly, Evergreen Review, Front Porch Review, Hawaii Review, Barrow Street, Sheepshead Review, Off the Coast, The Adirondack Review, Sierra Nevada Review, The Cleveland Review and many others.