Howie Good








Failed Haiku

1
Government counts using fingers and toes 
Or speaks through clenched teeth, 
A series of excited clucks made by a hen,

One with a long shadow.	

2
A stone polished 
By wind-blown sand –

An expression of joy 
Among Arab women.

3
An extremely elderly demon, 
The hag who murders children 
In the womb or at birth and then
Clings to the souls of mothers 
And talks through their mouths.








No Mercy
In memory of painter and Holocaust survivor Fred Terna

The fire of a crematorium chimney 
cast flickering light on a barrack wall. 

Much later, he saw a woman running 
in stiletto heels and cringed. Mountains

wore down to valleys. The form of flames 
was still there, but in greens and blues. 

He always knew that it wouldn’t go away, 
that he’d have to live with it. Animals think

and feel and people still kill and eat them. 

Howie Good's newest poetry collection, Heart-Shape Hole, which also includes examples of his handmade collages, is forthcoming from Laughing Ronin Press.

 
 

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