Ray Greenblatt has lived in New England, the West Indies, and along the Eastern Shore. He has written short stories, essays, and poetry which have been published across the U.S. in periodicals as diverse as America, English Journal, and Joseph Conrad Today.
He was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and won the Anthony Byrne Prize. He was also the editor of the magazine General Eclectic. A teacher for many years Ray Greenblatt has taught writing in the Philadelphia Writers Conference as well as spoken at the John Steinbeck Festival in Salinas, California.
Poems below from Ray Greenblatt’s book: INSIDE THE KUIPER BELT
A naked woman
walks into a room
will she be stoned
by Pharisees
will she be ravaged
by Cossacks
will she be burned at the stake
like Joan
will she assume an acute angle
on the wheel
as St. Catherine did
(there are not enough lines
to transcribe
all possibilities)
Perhaps she will enter a room
where an old man
will drape his coat around her
for protection
for warmth
knowing she can never die
then he will read poetry to her
till she smiles
they talk
have tea
then he will remove his old man disguise
not like Ulysses
to reveal an equally glorious young man
and they will begin again with parity.
ON THE BARBARY COAST
The Barbary coast
is not for couples,
flaccidity of handholding
softness of embrace.
Sun scours all surfaces
sea hard as a tin sheet.
Palm trees plunked down
like scant gifts for orphans.
It’s for a loner
a tough one at that.
Someone who can work his way
across the open square.
Who can filter though a glass
the dust of ages,
hold down a cafe chair
as if it were his vocation.
One who can get info
from fishbone cats
carrion crows on pilings
or a scrawny wind.
Who can find
a shadowed niche to hide in
when a fist comes searching
and bite clean down to tendon.
And all the while
a huge blue eye overhead.
FAMILY DINNER
Loud at head of the table
Zeus was drunk again
tossing around his beard
in multiple directions
like an axe-threat;
the fecund now persimmon-lipped Hera
eternally peeved at step-children;
hoping to soft-sell his big bro
on another southern deal
Pluto biding his time;
reddening Ares rising
to take issue again with dad;
the twins Artemis & Apollo
with giggles and slit eyes
fondled each other under the cloth;
Aphrodite tidied her hair
in a silver plate
oblivious to all noise;
Hermes rechecked his mail;
while Athena edged toward
the long drape-closed window
sticking out an eye to view
arteries and waterfields
hung over by evermoon.
For other contributions by Ray Greenblatt, please follow the links below:
- CARCASONNE …
- SAILING ON CORFU …
- PAINTERS ON THE MED
- SOUTHERN FRENCH TOWN …
- RIVIERA WEATHER …
- A PERFECT PLACE …
- FOLLOWING THE GUIDEBOOK …
- GREEK MAGIC …
- MINORCA: NEWLY ARRIVED …
- PASSING THROUGH TOULON …
- CIRCLE OF LIGHT …
- THE ANCIENT AIR OF ORVIETO …
- MONTE CARLO …
- NAUSICAA …
- A HARD SONG …
- GOLDEN AFTERNOON – MENTON …
- ON THE BEACH AT PIRAEUS …
- CONTEMPORARY LUXURY …
- TOO LONG ON CORFU …
- CRAZY IN SICILY …
- AN ATHENIAN DAY …
- ON PAROS …
- TO THE BEACH …
- THE ISLAND THAT DISAPPEARED …
- A TRANSLATION FROM ALEXANDRIA …
- I, SAPPHO …
- HERAKLEION …
- TOURISTS …
- BARCELONA …
Poetry in this post: © Ray Greenblatt
Published with the permission of Ray Greenblatt