Peycho Kanev

The World & Mirror
 
They say that before entering a river
to bathe, the poet Ikkyu collected
all the lice from his head and put them on
a rock on the shore so that they do not drown.
 
* * *
 
The sun shines angrily, the tit sings,
in the distance blue clouds glide
over the green mountain.
The world happens in spite of the world.
 
* * *
 
The clouds rise in a cloudless sky.
Calmness and clarity,
time is barely audible
on the edge of the horizon.
Who winds the clock of the world?
There are things you shouldn't think about,
nor to speak of.
Light has never been a metaphor.
 
* * *
 
The agony of the devoured animal,
Shopenhauer said, is always far greater
than the pleasure of the devourer.
 
* * *
 
Novel--
 
A cigarette which, once lit,
sighs
 
* * *
 
Between the heart of a newborn
and the heart of a dying man,
there is a huge empty space
that must be filled with a pulse.
 
* * *
 
At the end of the day
the unused hours go to the trash bin
and someone whose time is coming
to an end
finds them and uses them to survive
until the next day.



Peycho Kanev is the author of 10 poetry collections and three chapbooks, published in the USA and Europe. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, such as: Rattle, Poetry Quarterly, Evergreen Review, Front Porch Review, Hawaii Review, Barrow Street, Sheepshead Review, Off the Coast, The Adirondack Review, Sierra Nevada Review, The Cleveland Review and many others. His new book of poetry titled A Fake Memoir was published in 2022 by Cyberwit.