One
Day

At the market
checkout
counter
she asks me
if I need a
bag or a
war or a
poem

A poem
I say and
on the way
home
I read
a poem
about
geese
flying over
a marshland
in Ukraine

 

On The
Yadkin


I like to
lie in the
river cut
looking
up at
the dirt
filled sky
that holds
patches
of rusted
blue

The day passes
off to one side
as children
climb 
in and out
of their sacred
animal bodies
 
As darkness
nears me
I watch the river
for poems adrift
in my country

each poem
a small
floating
paper
lighthouse
of hope
and warning

 

In
Ukraine


When a loved one
is killed 
they leave behind
a very small piece
of their horizon

And that is why
on some days
you find yourself
staring at the
smallest
edge of blue
in your dark sky

 

We Share
The Moon
(for Mahsa Amini)


The moon
arrives to
scrape up
the last of
the sunlight
from the
rooftops
of the houses
on my block

The moon
who married
the ocean
so long ago
still rises
every night
reflecting on
desire

The moon
tonight
takes off
the hijab
clouding
Persia Street
and the
loosened
shimmering
light falls free
into the
beautiful
ribbons
of the
Northern
Lights

While in
the streets
everywhere
the Morality
Police wash
their hands
with blood
and disgrace
 
In the name
of God

Beau Beausoleil is a poet and activist (Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here) based in San Francisco, California. His most recent book of poetry is, Another Way Home (Blue Light Press – 2022).