Jack Galmitz


Please Stand and Be Sworn

State your name for the record.
My name is Mr. Extra.
Were you ever
and are you now
a member of the Eagle Scouts
of America? And, if so, for how long?
I am a man of even temperament.
I wear Polo Shirts and Khaki Pants.
I picnic with my wife and children
in Connecticut when we can.
On weekends. Never, to the best
of my knowledge, on weekdays,
when I, a man with a full head of hair,
work assiduously on behalf 
of the community and uphold,
like a weightlifter, its standards.
Have you ever marched in a Fourth
of July Band?
I have. Through the center of town.
And how did you get there?
By car. My car. Never by public transport.
Do you believe in the importance
of private ownership?
As I stand here, a man wearing
his High School ring, with some stocks
in IBM, I do, so I swear.
Mr. Extra can you enumerate
for this committee the 7 knots
a Scout must know to be in the first rank?
I can. By the Flag I hold so dear, I can.
Then name them please and be careful
how you answer.
Square Knot (Tenderfoot 3a)
Two Half-Hitches (Tenderfoot 3b)
Taut-Line Hitch (Tenderfoot 3c)
Sheet Bend (Second-Class 2f)
Bowline (Second-Class 2g)
Clove Hitch (First-Class 3b)
Timber Hitch (First-Class 3b)
Well done, Mr. Extra. We are convinced
of your patriotism and purchasing power.
Sit down. We have no further questions.
For now.



Pareidolia

I brush white paint over blue
covering most of the canvas. Some areas
are wet and can be seen through.
Some parts are impasto. I see
the past in the rectangle.
A pool by a bridge the first
I dived into. A blonde girl
in a blue bathing suit I fell hard for.
I don't tolerate nebulous stimuli, 
a field without a pattern 
or known objects. Would you?

In 1877, looking through a telescope,
men saw what they thought were canals
on Mars. Later a more powerful telescope
showed them they had been wrong, but that didn't
matter. They went on seeing things in things
that were unclear. 	

Hamlet saw a camel,
no a weasel, no a whale in a cloud
and Polonius confirmed his visions.

And who hasn't seen the Virgin
Mother in a baking spoon?

So, I go on painting
and don't get angry
when someone asks
what is it.
It may be the blonde sand
as seen through the crystalline
Aegean while you casually
look down at your toes.




The Day's Angled

And so a new day ended in a coal chute.
It was easy. It landed like a spun dime on its edge.
We did The Stroll. We did the Cotton-Eyed Joe.
We walked the dog to the end of the world.
Then a horse put us on his back home.
And we made hay in the cooling of the core.

Say it ain't so, Joe.
Honesty is the best police force.
Bend a long story out of shape.
Time is flying between both worlds.
It was no mistake. We struck time
with a hammer on the head
and pulled the devil on the ball.

We've reached the edge of the map
where the sea dragons swim and eat the light.
All was not well in our time. Twice upon a crime.
We're under the weather so we'll do it again.
Day lay on its side in a robe
and died much like Marat.

Jack Galmitz spends his time writing and painting. Recently some of his poems have been published in the journals Alien Buddha Press, Former People, and Synchronized Chaos. He turned 70 years old in the spring and for him this was a great accomplishment. He never thought he'd make it to 60.

 
 

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