“A Typical Flight”

 “A Typical Flight”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán

A typical flight

as an archetype 

of a moving life

quite possibly

a prodigy miracle 

marvel exemplar

role model demigod

revolving plasma stars …

“Ubiquitously Intertwined”

 “Ubiquitously Intertwined”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Ubiquitously intertwined Plant Kingdom lives

feeding healing inspiring immediate environments

photosynthesized highlighted ruby red delights

prickly cacti ox-eyes rosemary thyme 

my sister brother and I while savoring science…

“Weaving Together”

 “Weaving Together”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Weaving together mythology history

spirituality lyrical beauty collective psyches 

ginkgoes cosmos indigos willows …

“Like a Light Bulb”

 “Like a Light Bulb” 

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Like a light bulb as a bight idea

or the moon hitting your eye 

right in style shining day and night

waxing and waning all the while …

“Still Little Known”

 “Still Little Known”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Still little known/scheduled to open/uncomposed/yet straight-forward/contentious invitation-only roles/via microscopes/as well as high concept/on loan/shadowy approaches/to vast cosmos/put on hold…

“Staying Put”

 “Staying Put”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Staying put/taking a breather/saving astronomy

as distant galaxies of time and brightness 

throughout the entire night sky glowing 

like showy cosmos rotating in my mind’s eye …

“Nurseries of Stars”

 “Nurseries of Stars”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Nurseries of stars breathtaking snapshots 

sprinkled with white shining bright 

streaming vivid jets of red 

delicate wispy yellows …

“Taking a Hint”

 “Taking a Hint”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Taking a hint taking a load off 

here’s what we know 

from notable partygoers 

singing karaoke in stop-motion …

“Soaking Up the Sun, Say”

 “Soaking Up the Sun Say”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Soaking up the Sun, say 

simultaneously saving for a rainy day 

while sitting in the shade 

or walking in a leisurely way 

on an overcast Sunday …

“Glowing or Shining”

 “Glowing or Shining”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Glowing or shining

French, “I like”

“Right on!”

My Clementine 

like climates

where cacti thrive 

with hyperbolic wait time 

while temperatures climb 

higher and higher 

on no-return flights …

“Big Time Star Quality”

 “Big Time Star Quality”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Big time star quality 

putting one over on

in response to a harsh

“Oh come on!!” like co-stars 

sharply speaking their bit parts 

being heard then absolved 

having gone well over the top …

“Singing the Phone Book”

 “Singing the Phone Book”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Singing the phone book

ordering an espresso 

downing ice cream scoops 

diving headlong into song

as a turning point blending into the corp 

passing the torch trading stories 

joyful buoyant glorious 

heads lowered eyes closed …

“ Raining “ ...

“ Raining “

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Raining ash
snarling arteries
marring
iconic landmarks
proffering
improper remarks
alarming
losses of the heart
harping
on unacknowledgement
from the start
pondering
wishing on a star
conjuring
sweet-spotted compartments
stomping
into walk-in closets
unlocking
memoir genres
modeling
stardust as armor...

“ Perception “ ...

“ Perception “

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Perception
blue green
and red
dependent
on beckonings
from retina cells

drawing
attention
to blue-
black dresses
pre-addressed
by grids of thick
oil sticks
shiny sickly
still lifes
lit brightly
smudged icing

unreconciled
cropped tightly
babbling anxiety
misaligned
side-to-side
igniting grease fires...

" New Optimism "...

" New Optimism "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

New optimism
felt keenly
and quickly

challenging
conventional
thinking
from behind
the scenes

teasingly frolicking
published anonymously
as both tantalizingly rich
and haphazardly hapless

across jagged expanses
of crackled dirt
speckled with saguaros

as the biggest draw
for straddling borders
divided by walls

over time immemorial
foaming water corridors
detained and deported
armored checkpoints

trespassing on lawns
green galaxies spinning
as unsatisfactorily
conjured quantum cosmology

like stick shifts slipping
incarnately begging to differ
via rotational symmetry

minus equilibrium
twisting and contorting
walling in gnarled quarks

atoms falling apart
into sharded
protons and neutrons...

" Not Only in Human "...

" Not Only in Human "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Not only in human
but in animal form too
as the flowers of youth
rooted in ritual

cherk bones green
faces yellow
ploughing and sowing
growing stalks
into ears of corn
with returning waters

becoming outspread
all but erect
as one out of many
tombs and temples

closely connected
to dust and death
both manifest
and memorable

like rays of red
blue and yellow
arrowheads
being directed
by kindred energy...

" Unconventional Stars "...

" Unconventional Stars "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Unconventional stars
professionals
as party-hardy
including helicopters
of disparate genres

starkly intimate
entering into
giving the business
to irregular visitors

pushing the limits
like oddballs and strippers
from nowhere in particular

rhythmically rich
like truth serums
administered
unvarnished
to non-listeners

in an homage
to noxious narcissists
while living in crimson-
drenched labyrinths

equipped
with false
windows
as witnessed
by provocative
dead ringers...

"The Ground Is Gilded"...

" The Ground Is Gilded "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

The ground is gilded
according to tradition

being equally belied
by implied outlines
as the space behind

deep shadows
out of stormy clouds
brilliant rose gowns

carved in stone panels
haloes all aglow

draped in full-length
green brocade
yet standing naked
at the base
of a surprising apex

forms portrayed
from far away

caught up by paint
applied in rays
and enabling glazes
as studies of nature...

" Graceful Elevations "...

" Graceful Elevations "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Graceful elevations
exclaiming maiden names
found or pre-ordained

like permanent places
acquired across landscapes
of heroic characterization

abstractions in space
pure persuasion
rich estuaries
of colored glaze...

"On Hiatus"...

" On Hiatus "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

On hiatus
to where
sounds
have colors
and colors
have tastes

verbatim
to bold-faced
interpretation
well past
middle age

phased in
over decades
like fracases
in mountain-
top chalets

taken
as leaps
of faith
tethered
to popular
imagination

with lower
stakes
having
waxed
and waned

across lunar
landscapes
of tidal change
at flood stage...

Spent More Time

" Spent More Time "

by Suzán Jiván

Spent more time
smiling for pictures
ahead of criticism
slightly built
while wearing
the head of a chicken

as the price of admission
for Tiny Tim beginning to dip
into the skeptics' tips
in the initial not-too-distant
billions of principle
for the biggest finisher...

As the Conversation Continues

" As the Conversation Continues "

by Suzán Jiván

As the conversation continues
thought immodest
looked down upon
while stopping to listen
to voices crackling with anguish

routinely devoured
some mauled
others poisoned
stretched all along
the once horned...

Falling Prey

" Falling Prey "

by Suzán Jiván

Falling prey miles away
through waves of predation
slamming their way
passed graven faces
across acres of grazed-
over waste still holding faintly
to sacrosanct places
too weak to break...

A Steady Speed Over Time

" A Steady Speed Over Time "

by Suzán Jiván

A steady speed over time
like a sponge diver
with a crocodile smile
and horns that spiral
in a human tide

as a safe haven for wildlife
while slamming up a hillside
and casting
tiger prints in plaster
with faint markings
of their twitching tails...

In the Middle of a Gritty Gray

" In the Middle of a Gritty Gray "

by Suzán Jiván

In the middle of a gritty gray
as an early sign of reconciliation
a protective heat shield falls away
across a cheatgrass plain

no longer than a baby's eyelashes
set for a delicate decent
like the silkiest ever spidery filament
reckoned by spinnerets over millennia

combining giving rise
to striking revivals
convincingly tied
to stylized findings
with underlying insights

found only in long agoes
as tidal oceans
of unicellular microbes
growing in a slow
bio-control looking ghostly...

Slide-Mounted Haiku

" Slide-Mounted Haiku "

by Suzán Jiván

Light straw to dark brown
living gregariously
bark of rotting trees

Nine beadlike segments
distinct triangular head
oval abdomen

Giving mating gifts
secretions on leaf litter
hindlegs fight for mates

Eating fungal threads
sexual complexity
slide-mounted, stained red...

Not Immediately Clear

" Not Immediately Clear "

by Suzán Jiván

Not immediately clear
like a potent deal
of honed homemade
explosives

aligned neatly
in order to hit the weak
swiftly and tactically
as makeshift
heavy casualties

better handled
with little evidence
of substantial
shifts in attitude

evening the odds
with a whopping
piñata promising
a firm response...

Shooed by Boos

" Shooed by Boos "

by Suzán Jiván

after Nina Simone

Stylistic contradictions
between the vivid
and the obvious
as aimless shallowness
in metal beds of emptiness
becoming gawky and frumpy
again against the next
leering gentleman
and rejection
with the need to sing
as melodic legato
in isolated bravado
shooed by boos...

Letters so Eloquent

" Letters so Eloquent "

by Suzán Jiván

Letters so eloquent
one after another
amid dozens spun
twisted into gossip
by manic cocks
like captious critics
in a promiscuous tale spin...

Earliest Manuscripts

" Earliest Manuscripts "

by Suzán Jiván

Earliest manuscripts
on nebulous slips
subsisting
as transcriptions
on perpetual winds
like origins of history
bound by spirits
mirrored
in the celestial rim
with deep significance
still in its infancy
imprinted in scripture
worshipped as vision
within rituals
of mortal petition...

Wall of the Hall

" Wall of the Hall "

by Suzán Jiván

Wall of the hall
like liturgical calls
adroit as offerings
before the dawn
of three or four
grotto-sponsoring altars
while pacing the void
as a strong point
or vast resource
for the unanswerable
drafted as standard
along with a longing for support
found in songs with nothing more
than stories morphing
into mortar for all...

Smoke Against the Sheep

" Smoke Against the Sheep "

by Suzán Jiván

after Psalms 74, 75 & 76

Smoke against the sheep
purchased of old
above reproach
under the soul
of tumult
like the remainder
of constraint
as complacency...

The Most Storiied

" The Most Storied "

by Suzán Jiván

The most storied
awestruck
record numbers
in totally unique
speakeasies
intermingling
missing ingredients
as seamlessly
as Y-peelers
reminding you why
silence is sacrificed
like handheld dive lights
breaching the divide...

Lizard Beetles

" Lizard Beetles "

by Suzán Jiván

I

Lizard beetles
stem-boring larvae
shining blue-black
considerable damage
common on flowers
with tips of abdomens

II

Barely visible
in retractile cavities
as roots of agaves
decayed
while hibernating
on mites
like pleasing fungi...

Passing as Shamrocks

" Passing as Shamrocks "

by Suzán Jiván

for Anne-Adele Wight

Passing as shamrocks
when planted in pastures
with prostrate plants
becoming papery with age
like parting leaves rising
in rotation pinnately escaping
from cultivation into an ovary base
alternately chambered
with Eurasian stamens as shamans...

Somewhat Zigzagged

" Somewhat Zigzagged "

by Suzán Jiván

I

Somewhat zigzagged
often angled scales
as substandard classes
with branded branches

II

Of older bark
end buds true
end buds false
fruited usually

III

Broken twigs sour odor
hairy stalk corky wing
centered directly...

The First Desire

" The First Desire "

by Suzán Jiván

The first desire
voluntary
and involuntary
as a genesis
of self-expression
to varying effect
as antithetical epics
undoubtedly intended
to form themselves
nourished by intellect
marvelously rendered
with dramatic intensity
towards the monumental
as surfaces of flesh
postulating the presence
of divine intervention
one cannot help...

Southern Honeysuckle

" Southern Honeysuckle "

by Suzán Jiván

Southern
honeysuckle
low shrub sulphur...

Like Kinship

" Like Kinship "

by Suzán Jiván

for Debrah Morkun

Like kinship
underlined in mime
with watery eyes
welled from writing
while aspiring
to climb with rhyme...

Comes to Contemporary

" Comes to Contemporary "

by Suzán Jiván

Comes to contemporary
updated debates stipulated
and fully acclaimed as slang
becoming truncated
like deadpan exchanges
while keeping the faith
in the deeper layers
of a simulated sex change
becoming ultimately debased
by a twangily Appalachian application...

Change is Tricky

" Change is Tricky "

by Suzán Jiván

Change is tricky
and can quickly
become
as scary
as a flash
player
with graphic
add-ins
in gutsy hues
like a slew
of Givenchy shoes
with pre-approved
boots as a ruse...

Tuberous Roots

" Tuberous Roots "

by Suzán Jiván

Tuberous roots
scurrilously unfurling
into violet purples
of flagrantly rank
late grotesque shapes...

Often Seen

" Often Seen "

by Suzán Jiván

for CA Conrad,
author: " A Beautiful
Marsupial Afternoon"...

Often seen
swimming
in midwinter
past cattails
lined
with grasses
small snails...

Open Only in the Sun

" Open Only in the Sun "

by Suzán Jiván

Open only in the sun
unlike most worts
appearing crinkly
in the eve...

A Striking Ground Cover

" A Striking Ground Cover "

by Suzán Jiván

A striking
ground cover
yellow pea
narrow leaves
dry seeds...

Erect Stem

" Erect Stem "

by Suzán Jiván

Erect stem
milky sap
latter...

Deeply Cut

" Deeply Cut "

by Suzán Jiván

Deeply cut
crowded cluster
roughness
genus unknown...

Wattled Lapwing

" Wattled Lapwing "

by Suzán Jiván

Wattled lapwing
much preening
dung beetles...

Where They Still

" Where They Still "

by Suzán Jiván

for Ms Foo, Esq.

Where they still
similar will
liquid, "trill"...

Mournful Whistle

" Mournful Whistle "

by Suzán Jiván

for The Navajo Nation

Mournful whistle
d
r
o
p
p
i
n
g
in the middle
gray in winter...

Bushy Woods

" Bushy Woods "

by Suzán Jiván

for Josey Foo

Bushy woods
scaled pattern
descending
w
a
o
w
.
.
.

Warning

" Warning "

by Suzán Jiván

for Anne-Adele Wight

Warning
twisting
one night
as queen
of the breeze
buster victor
one wish
actually
imminent
on two minutes
point counterpoint
hyped hip-hopper...

Sprinkles O' Plenty

" Sprinkles O' Plenty "

by Suzán Jiván

Sprinkles o' plenty
onto wall texts
pouring resources
into Swords, Staves
Cups 'n' Coins
suited for all four
professing
to feeling buried
in mystical splendor
numbering
from ace to ten
with the faces of many...

A Lip-Smacking Number

" A Lip-Smacking Number "

by Suzán Jiván

for Uncaring Health Care

A lip-smacking number
for everyone
sucking their thumbs
stripped down
head to breast
distended with dissent...

Tide Together

" Tied Together "

by Suzán Jiván

Tide together
all along
a short shore
with trace arcs
all over the ocean
floor as coordinates...

Scoured by Sand

" Scoured by Sand "

by Suzán Jiván

for Thom Donovan

Scoured by sand
as sea glass
consigned
to waves
over decades
signal light
taillight twilight...

As Is The Case

" As Is The Case "

by Suzán Jiván

for Anne Waldman

As is the case
on the way
to a major
portrayal
of a native
close shave
with volume
and length...

Probably None

" Probably None "

by Suzán Jiván

Probably none
colored dusting
blunter...

Barely Crossing

" Barely Crossing "

by Suzán Jiván

Barely crossing
almost never
seen singly
spike billed
hoarse raspy
contrasting,
"zheek"
or "wink"
gloss on wings...

Slightly Greenish

" Slightly Greenish "

by Suzán Jiván

Slightly greenish
lacking pink
dusky below
submarginal rows
hosts are willows...

Moon-seeded Wings Fluttering

" Moon-seeded Wings Fluttering "

by Suzán Jiván

for CA Conrad

Orange marks gold bumps
summits meadows
moon-seeded wings fluttering...

Fresh Attention

" Fresh Attention "

by Suzán Jiván

for Larry Robin
@ Moonstone
Art Center

Scented
orange-red
clinging
to bare stems
yellow berries
fresh attention...

Unmistakably Straight-laced

" Unmistakably Straight-laced "

by Suzán Jiván

I

Patchy and tremulous wavering
midrange like nicknames
on stationery emblazoned
as surnames of the flirtatious

II

Receiving standing ovations
precipitated by the highly praised
as unmistakably straight-laced
hobbled offstage...

Revisited Again and Again

" Revisited Again and Again "

by Suzán Jiván

I

Seemingly blithe
Jiminy Cricket-like
with a diva of a wife
as flash and stridency

II

Revisited again and again
like chilling aspects
memorably unsettled
pushed over the edge
where only the fog could tell...

Attitudinizing Rack and Ruin

" Attitudinizing Rack and Ruin "

by Suzán Jiván

I

Performing
nearby
ticket buying
on opening night

II

Distant and slight
aisles lined
with mistaken
identities

III

Past their prime
attitudinizing
rack and ruin
in a new musical...

Self-Propelled Unarresting Webs

" Self-Propelled Unarresting Webs "

by Suzán Jiván

Time
traveling
revamped
as fancy
footwork
into a multi-
platinum
past
of con-
temporary
adages
wrestling
merrily
with self-
propelled
unarresting
webs over-
whelmingly
backed
as scrappy
factions
of one-
time
dancers
in pod-
casts
with
graphic
detail...

Opening Low

" Opening Low "

by Suzán Jiván

This hinge moment
narrowly cogent
opening low
with three
no-trump
from the dummy
signaling for clubs
diamonds doubled
heart ruff
down one
runner up...

Rusty Orange Hollow Carcass

" Rusty Orange Hollow Carcass "

by Suzán Jiván

I

Scarce
and
local
little
time
often
soaring
wings
broad

II

Short
tail
long
note
near
nest
"yelp,
yelp,
yelp"

III

Shaped
like
a
hawk
feeds
like
a
scavenger
on
road-
killed
animals

IV

Black
crest
black
belly
pale
areas
scaling
back

V

GatherIng
mottling
weak
harsh
marmots

VI

Held
horizontal
rusty
orange
hollow
carcass...

Hump-Backed Squat

" Hump-Backed Squat "

by Suzán Jiván

I

From ground
level
to the canopy
mimicking
the appearance
of bark

II

Hump-backed squat
pests of crops
foamy toxic
ground-hopping
legs splayed
eggs laid...

Slate

" Slate "

by Suzán Jiván

Choke-
berry
dog
bane
soot-
gray
to
slate
grey-
green
egg...