“A Gateway”

 “A Gateway”

for Linda Erlich, PhD

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán

A gateway for tracing the wanderings 

of portable art abstract imaginative 

miraculous animal motifs 

as an adaptation of religious beliefs 

derived from prophecies 

seen as square feet beneath wooden ceilings 

encompassing the duality of good and evil …

" A Popular Tablet "...

" A Popular Tablet "

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán

A popular tablet slipped under the tongue
miles above sea level for "Goodfellas" of chemistry
aw, "Fiddlesticks" power bits for money grubbers
sassily anti-inflammatory "Ain't nothin' like it!"

" Silly rabbit Trix are for kids!"
I'm goin' "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!"
while stickin' with it in my still life
It's nothing really! Neither eros nor ethos arts briefly

awkwardly toying with feelings of ecstatic release
via easily parodied "groupthink" observational comedy
readily knocked essentially gone "pop" at the prom
sonic tempo and volume but please not "do-op"
in an unhurried jog commenting, "What's missing in art?
cum laude? like bow ties with honors for anyone who wants
to learn on the job in mom-and-pop shops in rock operas?"

being taken way out of context near-and-far NOT
having gone far too far while sucking on lozenges
as overly sensitive to tree-pollen mission impossibles
got it going bonkers "Ma-velous! Oh my gawd! So obvious! Solid!"...

"It's Not Over!"...

"It's Not Over!"

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

It's not over
arms flailing
hair aswirl

wind stirring
hits and misses
gathering our wits
trouble is
steep medical bills

packing lots of harm
in response to promising
props of doctors
like constant health problems
taken up a notch

all the balm
becalmingly
chronicled
by artists
having
to take up
boxing
gloves on...

"Now, That's More Like It!"...

" Now, That's More Like It! "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Now, that's more like it!
gloating dreamlike
as subconscious beings
with admirable efficiency

often bizarrely frolicking
through an oculus
into darkness via a compass
"Hey, why not?!"

hemmed ludicrously high
glammed up and fetishized
dipped in nickel one might wish

seemingly dissimilar
rigorously exhibited
floor-to-ceiling...

" Less Far-Fetched "...

" Less Far-Fetched "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Less far-fetched
to startling effect
drawn from tarot decks
as orders of events
picked out of sequence

becoming subject
to the consequences
of not knowing
how or when

flanking glassy inlets
sauntering beneath
tree-canopied streets
from oddball to creep

not in the least preachy
while vanquishing the nasty
and favoring the ramblingly scary
yet feeling fairly
uncertain where to land...

"Faster & Faster"...

" Faster & Faster "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Faster
& faster
digital
traffic

taking
advantage
of award-
crammed
fan mail

becoming
increasingly
available

moving
too
fast

after
outlasting
pacing about

dancing past
fragments
of architectonic trash

against
solid slabs
of strands
of bandwidth

precisely
mirrored
rarely
glimpsed

spattered
trans-Atlantic
crystals
of non-stop
differences

softly lit
lofty thoughts
as heard
underwater

by totally
absorbed
hoity-
toity
sorts...

"Measuring a Mission"...

"Measuring a Mission"

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Measuring a mission
through swirling pictures
of connectivity
via trivia geeks

in coming years
having mostly
taken home trophies

with bands in tow
amid nattering challenges
of the dim and the cavernous

yet becoming brusque
and bustling
during centerpiece
screenings
for acting nominees

as the only place to be
at least fleetingly fidgety
finishing transfixedly
Are you ready?!...

"Something of a Trifecta"...

"Something of a Trifecta"

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Something of a trifecta
strong-arming itself
giving false impressions
of forces to be reckoned with

like undiscerned
finger prints
on top-ten lists

while living
in buildings
of spin

actively
pleading
"The Fifth"

nudges
just aren't
enough

when yearning
to buttress up
savings for start-ups

like Renaissances
from politically charged
shredded Ralston

being chewed
and altered
each morning

progressing
incrementally
across strategic
vantage points

while donning
denim uniforms
byzantine
in complexity

becoming weepy
turning to kink
like revelously
jeweled inseams...

"It Sure Was"...

" It Sure Was "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

It sure was
a long time ago

not only
here we go
or away we go
but a go-go

versus a no-no
or possibly oh no
still on the go

needing to roam
leading to Rome
as a hoax
of stop-and-go

oh no you won't
you so-and-so
don't be so no-sy...

" At the Height "...

" At the Height "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

At the height she was crying her wares
at the outset half way down
on the other hand of the dogmatic

so shattered no dalliance
corseted and buckram'd
over hair and cap

standing vigil
brilliantly lit
strong and scintillant

wonderfully different
conceptions in pictures
all out of recognition...

"Rocking Out"...

" Rocking Out "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Rocking out
with a spouse
but no idea how
to sustain regality

far from the glare
of monogrammed
tote bags
for diamond tiaras
on large scales

happening
naturally
like stacked
matchsticks
of matchmakers

artfully pre-arranged
as metal snaps
and button downs
all having had
the last laugh...

"An Aha Moment"...

" An Aha Moment "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

An aha moment
as a way forward
slouchy and relaxed
yet ornately tattered

fitted or baggy
both proving
to be worthy
of rejiggering

like cargo fatigues
being traced
way back to jeans

rehoned in fields
of diamond-quilted
troves of vintage
pretested limits

indigenously
specific
word-of-mouth
traditions...

" The Shouting Begins "

" The Shouting Begins "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

The shouting begins
the city is throbbing
with small-time gamblers
and big-time drinkers

ironically laughing
becoming madly
embarrassing
seriously now
getting kicked out
for exhaling loudly

like un-illuminated
characters not having
learned to chatter
with obsessive detail

particularly when acting
as the isolation and despair
of a very busy man
is seen everywhere...

Hitchhiking in Pursuit

" Hitchhiking in Pursuit "

by Suzán Jiván

Hitchhiking in pursuit
of a homegrown
art movement
with a trail view
of industrial plants
and tanneries
while taking liberties
in gob-smacking scenery

preserved pictorially
elegantly tapering
not far away
as a sign explained
in a painting
on distant vistas
wriggling up river
toward a waterfront pavilion
still hugging a cliff...

Letting the Rhythm Come to Her

" Letting the Rhythm Come to Her "

by Suzán Jiván

Letting the rhythm
come to her
on the cusp
of a build up
as accompaniment
to scribbles on a bill
while scuttering
across the kitchen
and finding a niche
lacking in ambition

as a stream
of consciousness
vital and vivid
satisfying and original
as slapdash depictions
of the violently killed
in parodies
of poverty-stricken
visceral trump tricks
with comfortable margins
of 86 imps...

Change is Constant

" Change is Constant "

by Suzán Jiván

Change is constant crashing the party
while still evolving new jazz harmonies
and playing eagerly year-by-year
after spackling the pristine
white teeth of malevolent families

abandoned in a subsequent crash
like unblinking cameras
of skeletal houses with famine animals
in front and in back of smoky glass
grisly theatrical as pairs of dancers
long been synapsed by contrarians

still fit for a prince seeming to flit
with a ridiculous spit polished
nubby nuance while closing the concert
with devoted followers
suffixed with, "cigar"

in its history as a sitcom
with workshops on tobacco farms
like sidebars for a Ponzi Schemes
while driving hard bargains
for the most popular genres
from any row or column

outlined by a box
of popular mythology
at times like a little odd
comical robot cracked on top
spewing clouds of dialogue
"smoking or non"...

A Perfect Replica

" A Perfect Replica "

by Suzán Jiván

A perfect replica
suddenly gone queasy
during a lifelong sleep
while breathing deeply
with a cuddly species
of squishy credibility

accessing ancestral memories
as blended genetic chemistry
unconsciously affected
by descendants' health

like savants of recollection
rewiring themselves
without question
in red leather ledgers
swirled with white letters
of inherited forgetting...

Holding Steadfast

" Holding Steadfast "

by Suzán Jiván

Holding steadfast
when threatened
by monetary weapons
of hedge fund investors
and chief executives
as asterisks
to targetted markets

preoccupied by sex
but little else
as serial molesters
push up against
excelling in excess
with low overhead
and self-correcting
pocket protectors...

By Looking In

" By Looking In "

by Suzán Jiván

By looking in
and sipping
the minimum
within minutes

as if by accident
with a blunt sadness
hovering around the fountain
in a thrillingly powerful packed house

perilously alone
downing a whiskey and soda
while hoisting a skull-and-bones
in stop motion...

Sunday Night Drops Us

" Sunday Night Drops Us "

by Suzán Jiván

Sunday night drops us
as a lot to watch
washed up
in intermittent intervals
like diaries reprinted
then told in pictures
within a bottled city

looming largely
as more orthodox exemplars
fed up with bowing
at irregular hours
in traditional galleries
of "when", "where" and "how"
being downsized
by backdrops and backgrounds

fantastic as captions
for far-fetched distant descendants'
attempts at self-expression
gridded against accompanying texts
of the expressionless declared, "dead"
at the registry of unheard
of "howevers" from family members
labeled with small lettering...