swifts  &  s l o w s · a quarterly of crisscrossings

the simple clarity of light
Raphael Moser

← back or next →

Beat

The lemon-colored sphere returning
quiet waves about the room
steadies the monotonous scramble
Such an abstractly redolent form
filtering
the crash and rumble from the drum kit
finding our pulse, invigorating
the slouching focus of our body
Bloodletting rhythms
do not purpose an outlet
to purge the banal and filthy ruins of media
The cool oscillation from each primary
frequency
integrates and sharpens
Shared space
the simple clarity of light
and the beats thrown down

The Enfolding of the Raw Earth

Taut at the core
Bare-backed dusk crackles
Starker adrift
Chilled hunks
Passion-fruit pink and plum
Pluming diadems
Petals
Small maroon crawfish
Quivering in its throaty grasp
Phosphorescent
Fingerprints bind
An ablutionary mesh
Winking

Several Beams of Light Later

Tonight, the lilies recede
Caught in the lantern’s lacy whir
Duration undone
Late, fast
Percolating at the axis
Mechanical husk
Brown-eyed as a barren Polaroid
Pearling, crossing, risen
Faint marvels

Hidden constant
Low in the heliotropic field

← back or next →

Raphael Moser’s poetry has appeared in Chronogram, Salonika, BigCityLit.com, Madhatter’s Review, Far out, Further Out, Out of Sight, and Catskill Mountain Region Guide and she was a regular contributor to the poetry blog October Babies from 2009-2013. She has participated in readings at Bowery Poetry Club, Bluestockings and the Ear Inn and has performed original music and poetry in various venues on Long Island and NYC. In 2021 she was a consultant and her poetry was included in the visual arts project Poetry Alley by artist Robert Tomlinson and in 2023 she participated in the Arts Mid-Hudson Gallery exhibition Poets Respond to Art. She has received residency grants from SLS Concordia College and the Vermont Studio Center.