Two Poems by
Joel Chace
Split
…shouting in the streets sometimes works… Nobody
at the forge. Attendance not noted…a filthy,
unkempt peasant; a royal baker… These others walk
past children playing in snow on a lawn……obeying
the divine command to save his enemies’
city… What’s important happens under
the gorge…out on Rt. 1, a farmer who sees so many
armies come and go…Attending is…then
pleading that it be destroyed anyway… minute
later, they hear laughter that turns out to be
geese invisible in the high, driving flakes…all
overflowing with prophecy...
Delving into Dots
That waitress’s resting face…pantomime,
then doom songs…They unwittingly
insult the pilgrim, asking her for
a translation…exclusively concerned
with the content of their message, not
its form…Those thirteen scarf as if there indeed
is no tomorrow…for once, deceived instead of
deceiving…In quick succession, they all
realize they’re not prepared. The moment has
arrived, but none of them have any lift
remaining. They’re absolutely fixed,
grounded, longing for the sky…expecting
all to rejoice at his death, he orders
executions of those who will truly be
mourned at that time…The final end,
one way or the other, unless not.
Joel Chace has published work in print and electronic magazines such as Tip of the Knife, E·ratio, Otoliths, Word For/Word, Golden Handcuffs Review, New American Writing, and The Brooklyn Rail. His full-length collections include matter no matter, from Paper Kite Press, Humors, from Paloma Press, Threnodies, from Moria Books, fata morgana, from Unlikely Books, and Maths, from Chax Press. Underrated Provinces is due out from Mad Hat Press in 2024. Chace was a working jazz pianist for more than 40 years. He is an NEH Fellow.