Encounter

Photo of Klaus J. Gerken
i waited at the corner
for a vocal argument
you came but did not speak to me
i questioned your intent

you shrugged and did not bother
to light your cigarette
a movie made to order
in the fog no one regrets

the hollow streets so echoed
like tapping stones together
our silence was forgotten
as we melted on the bed

the morning came securely
you left i left what’s left?

kjg 17 apr 2015

Klaus J. Gerken is on Facebook. Contact him on kgerken@rogers.com and read latest poems in Ygdrasil – a Journal of the poetic Arts.

chapbooks and manuscripts

Photo of Klaus J. Gerken

A pleasant surprise. Searching for something else (isn’t that always the case?) I found these manuscripts and chapbooks of mine:

The Waterfalls of the Broken Sky 1966 (Poem on a page torn out of a notebook)
The Jupiter Connection 1966 (My first Novel — long thought lost — wrote it as a school assignment when they wanted me to write a short story over the weekend. I got D- for that. Teacher said the novel was great but the D- was for not writing a short story)
Poem Speaking to Kenneth Koch 1971 (Chapbook)
Torture and Affliction 1971 (Chapbook)
Ich Bin Deutsch 1972 (Poem published in Germany somewhere)
Whiskey Poem 1972 (Chapbook)
Ygdrasail Vol 1. No 1. Spring 1973 (First print issue 50 copies — only the typed mss left)
The Last Party 1974 (Short Story)
This Novel… 1974 (Short Story)
Four Sixty Second Plays 1975 (Chapbook)
The Last Joy by Emmy Hemmings 1931 (Translation 1981)

Klaus J. Gerken is on Facebook. Contact him on kgerken@rogers.com and read latest poems in Ygdrasil – a Journal of the poetic Arts.

New Issue of Ygdrasil

The April issue of Ygdrasil, containing work by Carolyn Gregory, Allison Grayhurst, Scott Thomas Outlar, Donal Mahoney, Michael Ceraolo, Danielle Hope, Taylor Bond, John Grey and a translation by Khaloud Al-Muttalibi, is now available at http://users.synapse.net/kgerken/

YgdrasilKlausJGerken

Klaus J. Gerken is on Facebook. Contact him on kgerken@rogers.com and read latest poems in Ygdrasil – a Journal of the poetic Arts.

sacrifice

Klaus J. Gerken

the cat’s in the bushes
the dog’s in a howl
the fox glides through the shadows
all on a prowl

it’s safe to say nothing
escapes a routine
in the drama that follows
no one is mean

the quest for survival
is a deep rooted fear
that humans exploited
through a terrible tear

no creature will slaughter
for a truth they believe
like man is a given
from godly reprieve

cain killed his brother
god wanted blood
humans have always
stuck to that path

kjg 934pm 13 feb 2015

Klaus J. Gerken is on Facebook. Contact him on kgerken@rogers.com and read latest poems in Ygdrasil – a Journal of the poetic Arts.

The February 2015 Issue Of Ygdrasil

YgdrasilKlausJGerken

The February 2015 issue of Ygdrasil, A Journal of the Poetic Arts is now available at http://users.synapse.net/kgerken

Klaus J. Gerken is on Facebook. Contact him on kgerken@rogers.com and read latest poems in Ygdrasil – a Journal of the poetic Arts.

Ygdrasil around the world

Klaus J. Gerken

With the addition of new readers from Ghana and Ethiopia, Ygdrasil now has 46,015 readers in 2279 cities/towns, in 121 countries around the world.

Klaus J. Gerken is on Facebook. Contact him on kgerken@rogers.com and read latest poems in Ygdrasil – a Journal of the poetic Arts.

reverse psychology

Klaus J. Gerken

in the springtime of the season
when the scent of lilac reasons
with the rising sun of amber
and passion raises clamour
love grows in the meadows
and lovers hide in shadows
where sunlight does not gather
and lovers know no failure
the spring is like a sailor
somewhat drunk to know her
yet strong enough to offer
the apple to the woman
she does not eat…the omen
wakes her intuition.

kjg 544am 23 dec 2014

christmas and the needle

Klaus J. Gerken

away in a manger
in an alley below
a girl’s giving birth
in the ice and the snow
her hair is disheveled
she has no warm clothes
needle marks bleeding
as the morning star rose

merry christmas merry christmas
life is so good
the scent of warm garbage
is inviting as food
she screams and she suffers
god wants it that way
he made eve to suffer
for curiosity’s sake

the streets are deserted
the children awake
to gifts santa brought them
while in bed they slept safe
no joy in the alley
her child lies blue dead
she wraps him in paper
and stumbles in dread

merry christmas merry christmas
a savior is born
in a night of desertion
in a poor part of town
she stumbles to her dealer
she begs for some drugs
he tells her to get busy
“find someone who lusts”

they find her in a snowbank
a crumpled up heap
“another statistic”
says the cop on the beat
“what a great tragedy”
the papers report
no one claims the bodies
“Jesus comforts”

kjg 427am 26 dec 2014

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The Last Old Man (1997) by Klaus J. Gerken

Klaus J. Gerken

 

 

 

THE LAST OLD MAN

by

Klaus J. Gerken

(1997)

THE APPOINTMENT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hot day. Brilliant sun. It was difficult to wear the hooded robe. It
was a hated artifact; but it would have attracted too much attention not to wear it.  After all ever since the treatment was proscribed by law, it was a criminal offense to anyone who missed a treatment to go without it.
And NC1847 had gone without a treatment for a number of weeks. Under normal circumstances this would have had dire consequences, but NC1847 had friends in the Ministry of Youth and the official explanation was that he was hunting in a remote are of the Yukon where treatment centres were not available. This was lie, but a lie, that was at least believe by someone, although with skepticism.

NC1847 had missed a number of treatment before, but never several weeks at one time. The ministry of Youth and the Youth Police had already opened a file. They had already marked it in their minds, “Final Chance.” And indeed it was NC1847’s wife who persuaded him to submit to another treatment. She implored him in the name of his unborn children, his dying mother, and his long dead father. He did not believe any of this, yet his sense of duty and his confusion of what his role in life should be, made him consent. It was a forced consent, fraught with guilt and fear, and he hated himself for being such a coward.

Read More On:

http://users.synapse.net/kgerken/TLOMT1.txt

Klaus J. Gerken is on Facebook.  Contact him on kgerken@synapse.net and read latest poems in Ygdrasil – a Journal of the poetic Arts.

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