Tag Archives: Roger Desy

CPR Volume 22, Issue 3

than snow
by Roger Desy

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you have the smallest hands than buds

on seedlings have you have them smaller

than the hands of seeds in the hands
of grass you have than the rain has

abandoned to their own exquisite purpose

snapping at tassels in the dust and haze

swallows carry erratic moths to eaves
beyond the fallow edge of the distracted fields

till squalls cover the excess pollen and waste grain

and settle their barbaric clarity
over an insulated chrysalis

you have the smallest hands than rain

or buds or beads on grass or bits of leaf
or snow on snow you have the smallest hands
 

Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 22, Issue 3.

Roger Desy taught literature and creative writing at Duquesne University, edited technical manuals at Westinghouse, helped revive and repurpose a neglected one-room schoolhouse as a venue for readings/music/community programs, raised a family that now raises itself, and wrote and writes poems. His poems have appeared in Blue Unicorn, Kenyon Review, Mid-American Review, Poet Lore, and Spoon River Poetry Review.

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CPR Volume 17, Issue 1

Climb
by Roger Desy

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— assuming fitness — to prepare an expedition to be in the open

mid-spring surrounded by stone and snow and wind — provision

basics item by item the best gear possible — protection against cold
and sun — insulation — fabric lightweight rip- and weather-proof

 

— driest synthetics — polarized no-glare — perfect boots and tools

— exotic cutting-edge the best rope costly is priceless when needed

 

— fuel — food — and oxygen — the last and only necessity not
needed is water — it will always be everywhere locked in itself

working only a flame to stir and use — the end is in the plan
 

— arrange the details in advance allowing last minute changes —

 

to acclimate — and only then attempt ascent into the treacheries

of night and sun and ice and white-out squalls — till blinded by
pure luck flag the summit at the peak and breathless edge of nothing
 

— to know the mountain selfless at the precipice of its humility
 

for Bob Hoffman – Climber, Environmentalist, Survivor, Friend – January 2014

Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 17, Issue 1.

Roger DesyRoger Desy says “I tend to write sonnets, giving an old form new room, a new voice, perhaps a new freedom. I taught literature and creative writing and edited technical manuals. My plan was to write, and I’ve remained grounded in the lyric poem. Early mornings it’s only the poem. I write often but save little, so I try to write and rewrite with care.” His poems have appeared in Blue Unicorn, Kenyon Review, Mid-American Review, Poet Lore, and Spoon River Poetry Review.

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