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Two poems by Michael O’Shaughnessy

Michael O'Shaughnessy

fill / em
fill / credit: em

The Breeze from the Box Fan Is My Muse Today

i’m trying to bring it all together
all my better demons, those wicked muses
ferocious for discovery, brazen moves, leaps
into the abyss, surreal at the vanguard,
open the door without thought,
and then the door jamb of discipline.

but to begin with discipline when the wild wind
cannot get through the valley, gets caught in the hills,
is to end with an outline, the bare tanenbaum,
solid, but unadorned, a tree, all right, with a spiny shadow
on an empty skirt.

i hear the wind is blowing tonight,
the clouds are moving too fast.

the window is rattling in its frame.

I Began Vibrating at 9:03PM

she said i glowed with rage

a blue light in the black field
crackling in the pumpkin patch

she said it was just for a moment

Michael O'Shaughnessy

Michael O'Shaughnessy co-edited a literary zine in the '90s called Report to Hell. From 2007-2010, he and his wife wrote a gonzo cooking column called "In the Sellwood Kitchen" for a neighborhood newspaper in Portland, Oregon. He runs a semi-fictional net label called Sleeping Brothers Records, releasing lo- to mid-fi albums recorded over the last 30 years by a small circle of friends. You can find him on Twitter at @mroshaugh.

Author: Michael O'Shaughnessy Tags: poetry Category: Poetry September 29, 2017

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Empty Mirror

Established in 2000 and edited by Denise Enck, Empty Mirror is an online literary magazine that publishes new work each Friday.

Each week EM features several poems each by one or two poets; reviews; critical essays; visual art; and personal essays.

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