James Reiss Poems

¿Habla Usted Español?

The Spanish expression Cuando yo era muchacho
may be translated: when I was a boy,
...

was what we said back in New Jersey
when it was cool to like Ike and skip school

though truthfully brown Jersey cows
were outnumbered by black-and-white Holsteins
...

What streets, what taxis transport them
over bridges & speed bumps-my daughters swift

in pursuit of union? What suitors amuse them, what mazes
of avenues tilt & confuse them as pleasure, that pinball
...

Crystal

A man wets his forefinger with his tongue and holds
up a perfect water glass, empty and glistening.
...

The Breathers

(Jeffrey Andrew Reiss: October 5,1969)
...

People In Sunlight

A man and a woman are sitting
on an overstuffed sofa
...

The Blue Snow

Right now, somewhere, someone is thinking of you.
Lifting her arms into the summer
...

Cycle

What why when where who
I crush my wedding glass beneath my shoe
...

SQUEEZEBOX

You stretched its bellows to the limit without ripping
the fabric. So what if you weren't the guy on TV
...