Publication in the Taj Mahal Review

[Don Schaeffer]

Three of my poems were accepted for publication in the Taj Mahal Review (Taj Mahal Review VOL. 18 NUMBER 2 DEC 2019. to be released in Jan. 2020).
The Guardians in the Tavern



The room is full of judges.
They are on the lookout
for regular men, having a
nose for them, wanting their hungers.
.
Guarding the border of the
neutral zone. They smell real men
and no man who isn't
real can pass beyond the border,
without a judge's warrant.
.
Un-smelled men, ruled out
don't go beyond
the border of intimate speech.
"How are you?" "Fine"
"I don't care." Nouns from
tiny lives.

The Frock Coat



Live in a silent place
walk quietly,
clap only with your feet.
Say prayers
look for signs.
Everything will
come together in
riddles that can't
be answered.
Curl your brow
to show you understand.
Tender the unknown and
wait. Someone will see
and love you.




Advice to a Suffering Friend 12,000 Miles Away




I think you should enter the magic land of
goofing around and close the door on reality.
That's what I do.
You owe nothing to reality.
You don't have to keep paying it back.
It doesn't deserve the payment.
.
Live here for a time--where you can with me
do dreamy things.
This is shared dreamland.
Live here--suffer only when you wake up.
Not reasonable, not philosophical,
I know there is more to the world
than rocky surface.