The December Selected Poet is Joseph V. Danoski

Please feel free to email Joseph at: Dojonaki@netscape.net

THE SWEET GREEN

There’s a danger hiding like a stranger
Behind all that’s refined in Nature.
In places pretty as a painting,
In spaces suitable for framing;
Where the trees and vines
Softly entwine,
And the green’s
As sweet as
Any wine.

The sweet green
Is more than it seems—
The evil in the sweetest dreams . . .

Something unseen.

Beware the snake in Paradise—
The eyes behind the pair of dice.
Watch the hand you hold the cards in
When you bargain in the garden.

I had to see beneath the veil,
To touch the skin so cold and pale;
To ask the face behind the mask
To open up another cask.

I had to glimpse the underworld,
To lift the skirts of girls unfurled.
To stand and face the naked truth—
I had to have eternal youth!

The sweet green
Is more than she seems—
And even in the sweetest dreams . . .

Something unclean.

She’s in the deep, inducing sleep.
You know she always plays for keeps;
Tempting you with forbidden fruit,
The music of the mystic flute.

BABY SPIDER

Baby Spider
On the wall,
Curl yourself
Into a ball.

When I touch you
Pray don’t fall;
Baby spider
Start to crawl.

HOME REPAIRS

This yard is just a vacant lot,
The lawn has gone to weeds;
My garden’s now a graveyard plot,
I’m reaper of my deeds.

It’s time to do some home repairs,
Repaint the sills and eaves;
Rebuild those broken backyard stairs,
And rake last autumn’s leaves.

Time to make a clean sweep of things,
Turn over a new leaf;
Breathe deeply
What each springtime brings,
And free myself from grief.

It’s time to plaster cracks in walls,
Replace the tiles and floors;
Repaper haunted rooms and halls,
And change the locks on doors.

Time to rethink priorities,
Create a future plan;
Comply with the authorities,
And be a better man.

It’s time to reconstruct my life,
Reseed the new-laid loam;
Design myself the perfect wife,
And make this house a home.

Joseph V. Danoski lives happily on the “plains of his imagination” in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He published his first book of poems, Shock Waves: Letters from the Edge, back in 1987, under his old pen name, Jonathan Konrad.  This book is still being sold in local bookstores, and has been reviewed favorably a number of times. 

Through the years, Joseph has had quite a few of his poems published in the city’s newspaper, The Berlin Reporter, where for a time he had a byline in its poetry corner. In 1997 he was asked by the Chamber of commerce to write something appropriate for the Berlin Centennial Celebration. After researching the history of the area and the paper-making industry, he wrote a poem titled, The City Built from Trees, which he was subsequently invited to read at City Hall.

Joseph is a writer of letters and essays on diverse subjects, with strong opinions on many topics; but first and foremost, a poet of horror, science fiction and fantasy. His other activities include playing music, gardening, and stargazing. Recent publications include Penny Dreadful, The Nocturnal Lyric, Psychopoetica (U.K.), Hadrosaur Tales, The Quest (India), Black Petals, Yellow Mama, Sanitarium Magazine, and The Horror Zine.