Poetry

Poetry in Translation by J. Simon Harris

Guido I’ Vorrei (2021) (Dante Alighieri, Italian)

Be·m Platz (2018) (Bertran de Born, Provençal)

The Wanderer (2017) (Anonymous, Old English)

Featured Poems

Le Deluge

Look at him. Fucking idiot. Still banging
on that boat like it’s gonna save his life.
You know, I called him out. But there’s no changing
an old man’s mind. I feel bad for his wife.

Day in, day out, she has to hear that shit.
End of the world! he says. Our time is come!
So fucking loud, oh god, I wish he’d quit.
As if god gives a shit ’bout what we done.

I feel bad for him too, for what it’s worth.
Damn drunk. You believe he believes that shit?
What kind of fucked up god would drown the earth?
We ain’t doing a thing. Keep them fires lit.

Live life, fill your belly, defend your blood,
and don’t you worry ’bout... well god damn, it’s raining.

First published in The Road Not Taken (Summer, 2023).

Cooking with Love

The smell of garlic, rosemary and thyme,
the steam rising out from the boiling crock,
the bubbling sauce, the rhythmic chopping knife,
the chicken sizzling in the shallow pot.

A breeze from the window blows across our hot
wet brows, and we both sigh, husband and wife,
and catch each other’s eye. Your floured smock,
your oiled hands, your lips purpled with wine.

The flowers in the window gently rock,
and the breeze ripples through your hair, and I’m
left dumb—the world goes mute, everything stops,
and for the rest of time our eyes are locked,

our love is locked in this moment of time,
and I am all yours, and you are all mine.

First published in Wine Cellar Press (Issue 3: Love).