Eight Poems by dan smith with Art by Dyane Jackson

 

Artwork - Eve, a painting by Dyane Jackson

  

Line Dancing With Kaz and Yoko

sunshine coalesced

like an oceanic

window stained 

inside with pain

minds in pieces

image a nation

at peace

the act of art

an auto bio graph

attempt to heal

                       inspired by a painting by Kaz Ogino titled Rainy Day Rainbow

A la Mode Pie

David Lynch drives into a sunset 

of off kilter horizons 

toward that hard to reach place 

around the corner from Muholland 

where all the crime is squeezed 

from romance and every femme fatale  

is just an angel in disguise  

because nothing is ever lost 

and all the highways lead  

to some lonely diner 

on the outskirts of Paradise 

where the underbelly  

isn’t always reaching for the sky 

and the pie is always a la mode 

with the jukebox  

playing all your favorites 

over and over 

like it’s reading your mind 

 

 

inspired by Deserted Highway, Mojave Desert  photo by Alexis Rhone Fancher published 3-7-25  at Ekphrastic Review Challenge

Lady in a Print Dress With Manet and Van Gogh

Daydreams of fragrant gardens

and nights when she painted

the town red dancing the days

away with different cats who

were mostly dogs---

Poets, painters, and philosophers

masters of seductive reasoning

who were themselves seduced

by a ballet whose elaborate

choreography often spun

out of control---

Once vibrant flowers

that now droop and sag

exhausted in their beds

published at Ekphrastic Review Challenge 10-18-24 inspired by After the Walk, a painting by Lyn Aylward

Jaundice

what mad choreographer

blocked out the scene

with traipsing nymph

gathering all the knowledge

of Death we would ever need

leaving only the bitter fruit

of The Appeciation of Life

Tree that flowers only once

for each Cro-Magnon

each Neanderthal

and even further back

to the alleged crime scene

where we were bitten 

by a thirst

an unquenchable curse

that ever questions

and no doubt asks too much

of Paradise

published 3-21-25  at Ekphrastic Review  Challenge was inspired by Eve, a painting by Dyane Jackson

  

Picabia's Pavonia

overlaid images

flowers in an ancient garden

pomegranate/apple blossoms

bedroom poetry decor

published 2-7-25 at Ekphrastic Review Challenge was inspired by Pavonia, a painting by Francis Picabia

Exquisite Lighting 

The house  

where I grew up 

had a big front porch 

which often became 

a stage where 

I was the star 

in childish reenactments 

of the movies  

of the day- 

That nameless girl 

who overcome  

with …  what? 

A beauty so inarticulate 

she rushed up 

and kissed me- 

My greatest triumph 

so ephemeral lives on 

a treasured snapshot  

in my mind 

that prompts this poem 

at 4am – 

A feeble attempt 

to tell you  

of the exquisite lighting  

of the scene- 

The ineffable instant  

when everything clicked 

when I was twelve.

The Groove Be the Tonic 

 

Night Music 

now that 

was some 

crazy ass 

shit  

so many jewels 

not a sow’s ear 

in sight 

man, that’s what 

tv could do 

sort of a Sesame Street  

for adults and hip teenagers 

Miles and Hank Ballard  

are you kiddin’ me 

David Sanborn 

genial host 

out beyond smooth 

setting the tone 

let the groove  

be the tonic 

sonic adventure

for audience and artists alike  

breaking the unsound  

labeling barriers 

Loudin Wainwright III 

doing If Jesse Don’t Allow                                                                                                                                                                 

a master class 

a template 

still there for us 

on YouTube  

still allowed 

for now

published 8-17-25 in The Roads at Night Looked Like Our Future  - A 40 over forty POETRY  Anthology.

 

Work Shirt

sweat and grime

a thousand washings

can't get clean

faded denim

such pale blue 

faded threadbare dreams

a house 

a car 

a lawn to tend

a work shirt 

no one can mend

an old work shirt 

hanging on the line

a blue to match

the faded sky

cuffs and collars

frayed

the elbows 

nearly gone

like memories

when it was

proudly worn

the world less torn

the news more 

upbeat when we

were less forlorn

and it wore

a union label

dan smith has been widely published in journals such as The Rhysling Anthology, DeepCleveland Junk Mail Oracle, Sein und Werden, Dwarf Stars, Jerry Jazz Musician and Gas Station Famous.

Nominated for the 2025 Pushcart Prize, his most recent poems have been at dadakuku, Under the Basho, The Ekphrastic Review Challenge, The Solitary Daisy, Sense and Sensibility, Lothlorien Poetry Journal and Five Fleas Itchy Poetry.