Poetry Blog by jan oskar hansen
appointment
Appointment
I have unfolded my poetic wings
they have no feathers and the downdrafts
makes it impossible to soar
Tomorrow the doctor will see me, I have to walk
on a treadmill, just like Oscar Wilde
he wrote a book about it, I’m more modest
perhaps I can get an alternative poem out of the test.
I fear my doctor he has got cold hand and looks at me with distaste.
Wha...
Tuesday 24th April 2018 10:15 am
a river
A River
It is a river in the middle of the landscape
not a famous river it has no university buildings
and it doesn`t appear in ancient books.
In winters it froze up in spring it was deep to
cold to swim in, in summers for a short while
It was a place to go bathing, and then it became
too shallow, a yellowish dribble not fit for
anything but drinking water for sheep.
A...
Monday 23rd April 2018 10:58 am
ducks
ducks
It was an early Sunday morning in June
A man I a rowing boat stealing ducks in the lake,
who thought he was there to feed them,
bagged two before the others got the message,
this was not a nice man with a bag of breadcrumbs.
Two mighty swans didn`t like this they swam to
the boat pulled the man out and held him under
the water till he stopped struggling.
Empty row...
Sunday 22nd April 2018 10:37 am
madness
Madness
Stood by the window, saw a man with a cane, walking
down the road, I waited for him to return waited all day long
till I was so hungry that I rushed into the kitchen
grabbed an apple and continued my vigil waiting for
the man with a cane to return. Darkness comes the road has
no light I had a flashlight to lit up part of the road
should I hear some noise? Two in the ...
Saturday 21st April 2018 10:24 am
failure
The Failure
When I was bored with sea life
and walked ashore in Santiago
I could find no work except in house of ill repute
throwing out the rebellious and for some reason
became a father confessor to the women, not a good start
No one wanted a book-learned man who had read Nietzsche
so when the money was gone it was back to sea.
any ship would do as long as I was paid so I...
Friday 20th April 2018 9:26 am
stay at your lest
Stay at you lest
In the working class district where grew up
Stay with your lest
most boys began working in a factory when old enough
they married to a nice wife had a little flat and children.
they continued being solid workers till the reached
pension age got a watch and a picture in the local paper
dressed in ill-fitting suits looking solemn and proud.
They had don...
Thursday 19th April 2018 9:14 am
alone in the night
Alone in the night
During the night I had no angst
but my teeth hurt and sleep had gone truant
Time is relative the clock on the stand
appeared to have stopped checking the time
in the living room, it was 2 minutes faster.
Four in the morning too late for a glass of wine
not a common drunk, got nothing to hide.
When awake the toothache had gone for now
it was o...
Wednesday 18th April 2018 9:32 am
this crazy world
This crazy world
Steven Hawkins is dead his contribution to science
was magnificent, even though I do not understand.
In the meantime, we pollute the land big cities are
running out of drinking water and future wars will not
be about oil but fresh water.
We continue to fight wars that are about ism and power,
yes, the isms that by its nature is hateful and
only good to mak...
Tuesday 17th April 2018 9:21 am
at the cardiologist
I have been to my heart doctor
she noticed I had been smoking and banged a delicate
fist on the table and her stethoscope danced over her
firm breasts, she was furious,
did not listen to my lame excuses that a cigarette
was given to me the day before and polite as I`m
couldn`t say no. She was not mollified.
What do I know perhaps she is worried by her son?
who doesn`t wa...
Monday 16th April 2018 10:57 am
a security guard
Security guard
I was broke, no work for me at the shipping office,
got a job guarding tractors; sat in hut that was cold and had no heating
and bad light. Well, this job was better than sitting at home
lamenting my unemployment, but my god was it boring.
Sat on a tractor pretending I was a farmer ploughing a potato field,
and that was tedious too. The uniform they had given ...
Sunday 15th April 2018 7:26 am
the voice
The Voice of the People
The morning is excellent and calm
I try to write about the feeling I have inside me,
but can only come up with a feeling
of boredom, that comes when looking out of the window
too often and see nothing has changed.
I don`t want to live here anymore, but is fearful
of the unknown – being outside my comfort zone-
even if it is tedious, I find the w...
Saturday 14th April 2018 1:57 pm
Alfred in the wilderness
Alfred and the wilderness
Alfred, who with the greatest of ease tells,
Me he is not my father and I went for a walk across chlorophyll filled field.
Alfred who is a musician and never ventures out in the landscape
saw some grazing sheep and wondered if they were dangerous,
no, I said they are sheep and born friendly
as God created them, to this Alfred called me a crypto-Chr...
Thursday 12th April 2018 4:24 pm
the fucking spring
As the time of spring beckons
We all have this moment of clear-sightedness
when we see we are of little importance other to the world
and clear-eyed grasp our smallness.
We can in our tiny ways push the world forward an inch
perhaps to a fairer society where children do not die under
the rubble of concrete.
We can do nothing to stop these people...
Wednesday 11th April 2018 10:13 pm
at the end of rural idyll
At the end of rural Idyll
It has been a long day
lugging water, gas and fire-wood
up to the cabin
I hope it is the last time having to do this.
We are moving into a roomy flat in Cascais
it has a panoramic view over the bay, the sea
yes, it was my first love even though I`m loath
to admit it, but I will miss the trees and
the greenery of ...
Tuesday 10th April 2018 12:12 pm
poets and intellectuals
Poets and intellectuals
A big white screen I look at it and type a few words,
utter banalities about a washing machine, the brain has nowhere to go
but to think of the near things.
There was a time when I sat on top of a mountain feet dangling high
above ground when I thought if I tried could fly; everything was possible
now I’m dead inside. Death starts when the mind goes ...
Monday 9th April 2018 10:12 am
Alfred Like dogs
Alfred like dogs
Alfred, my father who steadfastly refuse to be one
had bought four sausages, and was frying them when I came in,
but papa I said you are a vegetarian, yes he said two are for you
and two are for the dog that hangs outside the restaurant
where he plays the piano, it needs reassurance and food.
Alfred chuckled to himself, and I was not sure if I should feel
...Sunday 8th April 2018 7:24 pm
a few words
A few words
Absence
Is not a peace
It is possibilities
Wasted
For the old
The stillness holds no peace
Only an echo of the undone
Saturday 7th April 2018 9:05 pm
ALfred has arthrites
Alfred has Arthritis
Since Alfred, the man who strenuously denies
fatherhood got arthritis in his hands, it often happens
when it gets cold. He sleeps to noon take forever
in the bathroom before going to town looking like an artist
in his alpaca jacket and French beret.
He eats lunch in town alone never think of inviting me
and in the evening watches Bulgarian soap opera,
h...
Saturday 7th April 2018 1:25 pm
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King
It is 50 years since he was shot dead
It shocked America and naturally uproar and looting
by the black population followed.
I remember the man because he saw that poverty
is the enemy and we must try to eradicate it.
For the black population not so much have changed
a horde of young black men have no education and
live by gang violence and drugs.
...Friday 6th April 2018 8:24 pm
sailing
Sailing
I will be here
Waiting for you
In the bay of peace.
When becalmed
Your sails grey
Days of glory over
I will be there
In the tranquil bay
Waiting for you.
Our anchors
Will be our wedding ring
De-rigged
Side by side
At last, my love.
Tuesday 3rd April 2018 6:28 pm
Recent Comments
raypool on appointment (3 hours ago)
Stu Buck on appointment (14 hours ago)
keith jeffries on madness (2 days ago)
Brian Maryon on ducks (2 days ago)
Wolfgar Miere on failure (4 days ago)
Hannah Collins on this crazy world (7 days ago)
Brian Maryon on this crazy world (7 days ago)
Colin Hill on at the cardiologist (8 days ago)
jan oskar hansen on Alfred Like dogs (12 days ago)
Colin Hill on at the end of rural idyll (13 days ago)
M.C. Newberry on poets and intellectuals (Mon, 9 Apr 2018 01:56 pm)
Hazel ettridge on poets and intellectuals (Mon, 9 Apr 2018 12:21 pm)
Martin Elder on Alfred Like dogs (Mon, 9 Apr 2018 09:40 am)
Brian Maryon on Alfred Like dogs (Sun, 8 Apr 2018 10:33 pm)
Tommy Carroll on Alfred Like dogs (Sun, 8 Apr 2018 08:48 pm)