Charles D. Tarlton
Solipsism
When the last fires will wave to me
And the silence will set out
– W. S. Merwin
Where do you go when you die? I think about the oblivion of anesthesiology, the world depicted in old snapshots, and the indifference of the trees. What does it matter?
I want to work
to make everything true
it is the lies
cause us to clutch our hearts
pounding our helpless fists
the word, "whispers"
aspirates its consonants
no "w" in sword
hard to imagine there's
no me, not from this angle
Bio
Having taught mainly English and Italian Renaissance political theory at the university level for a long time, Charles D. Tarlton has returned in retirement to a more youthful love-poetry. He has recently published a number of poems in magazines such as Review Americana, Jack Magazine, Houston Literary Review, Tipton, Barnwood, Haibun Today, Simply Haiku, Ink, Sweat, and Tears, Atlas Poetica, Red Lights, Sketchbook, mango moons, and an e-chapbook in the 2River series, entitled, The Vida de Piedra y de Palabra: Twelve improvisations on Pablo Neruda's Macchu Picchu.