Robert Fernandez
Winter 2023 | Poetry
Three Poems
Ma Bohême
road
rose
roam
rove
rien
him
them
hand
stand
stone
foam
comb
tone
touch
flesh
us
blush
must
kingdom
Edom
end
and
plow
howl
fowl
fade
flower
sour
rye
reed
seed
star
mood
room
womb
color
crest
yes
rest
toil
spoil
spill
break
gather
laughter
skill
wake
pray
clay
ray
say
song
sun
strung
agon
maker
savor
labor
lathe
liquid
lisp
kiss
candy
party
Mary
mask
task
ask
rasp
bracelet
banquet
wasted
stung
come
one
tongue
animal
canticle
storm
form
fire
gyre
grace
gown
brown
gold
soul
fold
sail
sea
palms
psalms
alms
Walls Tiles Pebbles (after Dōgen)
I grew
up around
construction
paint
tile
grout
drywall
why
wall
do you
stand
so bare
and
beautiful?
I run
my hand
over you
and you
are dry!
a stack
of tile
is a
castle
a mouth
breaking
into
pebbles
that
box of
broken
tile,
throw
it a-
way!
when it
rains
a mouth
of broken
teeth
spits
ice cream
(water, mud)
when
it’s dry
the sun
stands
around
and has
a smoke
The Hoof of a Donkey (after Dōgen)
the hoof
of a donkey
sticks
stick
dis-
lodge
a donkey
smiles
st-
ick
the entire
universe
releases
ex-
hale
the entire uni-
verse tran-
spires
a donkey
an angel
my
donkey
speaks!
brings me
bears me
stares me
down
Balaam
opens
his eyes
Esau
smacks
his lips
Samson
takes
a drink
a donkey
enters
the city
un-
stick
here
there
there
there
s-t-
i-c-k
the hoof
of a donkey
sticks
Robert Fernandez is the author of the poetry books We Are Pharaoh, Pink Reef, and Scarecrow. He is also co-translator of Azure, a translation of the work of Stéphane Mallarmé. His poems have appeared in Huizache, The Nation, The New Republic, Poetry, A Public Space, Transition, The Yale Review, and elsewhere. You can visit his webpage here