Wednesday 5 February 2014

2 Poems by Cindy Rickey

Late Night in the Lowcountry:
Don’t let de hag ride ya


Dank humid smells of pluff mud and salt
drift heavily through the night
and permeate the souls
of humans and animals in the Lowcountry

Geechee songs of mourning
are held captive under the fog
as they try to rise above
to reach the elusive light of the moon

While hermaphrodite rushes of tidal marshes
sway and press against each other
as they reflect the slow sensuality
of Lowcountry lovers

Gullah women rest from daily toil
as the root doctors moan
and their secrets sleep
in the weaves of sweetgrass baskets

Spanish moss hangs low
over murky brackish creeks
as primitive alligators slowly swim
hungry for their fleshy meals

Red boo hags pass by on their nightly rides
of Southern belles and Confederate men
who lean brooms against bedposts
in protection

And the salt water and creek water
converge and become one
as they find their way
through the salt marsh maze

While humans stumble and trip
as they dream of their darkest fears
and reach for the solace
of their lovers’ warm touch


For Jean-Louis “Jack” Kerouac
En Souvenir


The undertaking was
so hard so driven
this inner search for
peace and truth
on crisscross railroad cars
and marijuana highways
in jazz riffs and prose streams
with yab-yum bodhisattvas

He flew too close to the sun
the wax melted
in long slow drips
in Florida
and he drowned while blowing
in an alcohol red sea

too soon at 47


Bionote

I am a poet and photographer and have published a book of poetry entitled A Year in the Life of an Unemployed Poet.  I was a 2011 winner of the NYC Office of Cultural Affairs and Mayor Bloomberg’s Poetweet contest in honor of National Poetry Month, published in MetroNY and picked up the next day by The New York Times blog.  One of my poems was also selected by the NYC Office of Cultural Affairs to appear on their FaceBook page in honor of Poem in Your Pocket Day, 2011.  My poetry has been published in several issues of Avocet, A Journal of Nature Poetry and Avocet Weekly.  I have also been published in Blueline; Miller’s Pond Poetry Magazine; The Mountaineer; and On Your Mark and Sacred Visions, publications of the Blue Door Gallery.  To read more of my poetry or see some of my photography, please visit my website at www.cindyrickey.com. carickey1@gmail.com

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