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The sad truths: New poems
Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1974
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About the author
John Robert Colombo
152 books9 followersAlso called “Canada’s Mr. Mystery”, Mr. Colombo lives in Toronto with his wife. In addition to writing and running a publishing company, Mr. Colombo has appeared on both television and radio.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 23, 2022
Colombo
Colombo.
Capital and chief port
of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka,
in the Indian Ocean.
Colombo.
Obscure for of Calumba,
a root indigenous
to the forests of Mozambique.
A bitter substance
used as a mild tonic.
Colombo.
For "Colombo's Agent,"
see "Hunter's Robe."
A devil's-ivy, a tall, climbing
plant of the Solomonic Islands;
with leaves marked pale yellow,
flowers enclosed in spikes.
Colombo.
Plan for Co-operative Development
in South and South-East Asia,
to aid developing countries
through bilateral member agreements.
Headquarters: Colombo.
Colombo.
Russ Colombo,
popular Italian-American singer,
who shot himself in 1934,
cleaning his rifle.
Colombo.
Joseph Columbo,
Mafia chieftain;
shot down in Columbus Circle,
New York City, 1971.
Colombo.
"Lieutenant Colombo,"
popular television series
starring Peter Falk
as the wall-eyed detective.
Colombo.
A walled plain
in the forth quadrant
of the moon.
John
"Entrance door. Nice,
simple and gentle name,
breathing true poetry,
self-control, noble independence,
love of truth, a reserve
which conceals high feeling."
(From a Dream Book)
*
My Genealogy
1.
My great-great-grandfather
played in the streets
of Milano, I am told.
I take it on faith.
2.
His son, the artisan,
immigrated to Baden, Ontario,
as a decorator or builder.
I believe this, but never met him.
3.
My grandfather was born
in Baden, and he married
a German girl there.
I remember him well -
he spoke English
with a German accent.
4.
My grandparents lived
in Berlin, Ontario,
when it changed its name to
honour Lord Kitchener.
They made an unusual couple -
he was more than six feet tall,
she barely five - but together
they produced fourteen children.
5.
One of those fourteen Colombos
was my father. He spoke English
with a Pennsylvania-Dutch accent.
6.
He married a Kitchener girl,
and I was born in that city -
with its light industry
and its farmer's market -
in that city, an only child.
7.
I remember quite distinctly
my mother's parents, my grand-
parents. My grandfather spoke
with a thick Greek accent,
and my larger grandmother,
a nasal Quebec French. Yes,
they made a colourful couple.
8.
They first met in Montreal,
lived in Toronto for a while,
finally settled in Kitchener.
They had five children,
and their arguments had to be
heard to be believed.
9.
Blood flows through my veins
at different speeds:
Italian, German,
Greek, French-Canadian.
Sometimes it mixes.
10.
At times I feel close
to the Aegean
the Côte d'Azur,
the Lombard Plain,
and the Black Forest.
11.
I seldom feel close
to the Rocky Mountains,
the Prairies,
the Great Lakes,
or the cold St. Lawrence.
What am I doing in Toronto?
12.
If this means being Canadian,
I am a Canadian.
*
Dossier
5 feet 9 inches
180 pounds
Temperature: 98.6 F.
Pulse: Normal
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Build: Heavy set
Caucasian
Born: March 24, 1936
Social Insurance Number:
400-578-647
Distinguishing features
(If any): None
How many facts
Make a fiction?
*
No Birthday Party This Year
Today I turned thirty-five.
No regrets, only misgivings.
I check my horoscope in the paper.
"Aries. You have reaches a plateau.
Difficulties lie ahead."
No comfort there.
In the same paper I note
what an astronomer has to say:
"Ours is a middle-aged sun."
That helped, a little.
*
Scenes of My Dreams
A sunny day
at St. Tropez.
Walking down
the Champs-Élysées.
With you,
on Fifth Avenue.
Trafalgar Square,
imperially bare.
Antigua Bay
when we got away.
In Red Square
with snow in the air.
Brussels, alas,
for its Grande Place.
Lovely Lucerne,
and Berne.
*
Notes on a Northern Lake
1.
We freeze in our beds
The wind sends shivers across the lake
2.
We swelter in the open air
The sun sends lava across the lake
3.
We move among the trees
And through the woods the lake moves too
*
Louis Riel, after Miroslav Holub
Children, when was
Louis Riel born,
asks the teacher.
A thousand years ago, the children answer.
A hundred years ago, the children answer.
Last year, the children answer.
No one knows.
Children, what did
Louis Riel do,
asks the teacher.
Won a war, the children answer.
Lost a war, the children answer.
No one knows.
Our neighbour had a dog
called Louis,
replies one of the children.
Our neighbour used to beat him up
and the dog died of hunger
a year ago.
Now all the children feel sorry
for Louis.
*
The Khyber Pass
I will never see the Khyber Pass
never enter it there in the distance
between those two mountainous ranges
well beyond the curvature of the planet
bu in my mind's eye I behold it here
this very moment in Toronto
and rain or shine night or day
I enter it Kind of the Khyber Pass
*
The Grange, Toronto
Old men play chess
under trees.
Caterpillars turn
into butterflies.
Pawns turn
into queens.
*
In the Universe
There is a house
and a wife
and a child
and a refrigerator
and a book
and a furnace.
There is a root
and a trunk
and a branch
and a leaf
and a bud
and a sun.
There is a community
and a friendship
and a future
and a hunger
and a history
and a reason for it all.
*
Afternoon Claude Monet Visits
In California, where Asia is
Or he took her like an inheritance
Or by now we are half-doomed anyway
Or my trade is chagrin
Or slowly rotting in another man's country
Or Maya Plisetskaya is the part of Pavlova that Fonteyn isn't
Or Albanian for Albania is Shqipëria
Or when he looks there is nothing there
Or twelve including Castro in the Sierra Mastra
Or the night is rather longer than it would be without the rain
Or nor do immortals need to think
Or we - and by this I mean you and me, mostly
Or a touch of Aritotle, a dash of Barnum
Or afternoons Claude Monet vists
Or I live among mysteries
Or the diameter of the planet is
Or stand int he corner an try not to think of a white bear
Or that one must have hurt
Or why are odd numbers so much harder to add than even
Or but not necessarily in that order
So Wu Tao-tzu the T'ang painter
Wandered into one of his own landscapes
And disappeared
*
Seven Ways of Being Herostratus
1. Be Herostratus.
2. Be born Herostratus.
3. Be christened Herostratus.
4. Go by the name of Herostratus.
5. Expect and encourage others to call you Herostratus.
6. Be an Ephesian and break the law forbidding any mention of Herostratus.
7. Be an Ephesian named Herostratus and set fire to the Temple of Diana in 356 B.C. so your name will be immortal.
*
Versions of St. Mark, for Pier Paolo Pasolini
When he cured the leper,
he cautioned the man,
"Say nothing"
But he said much.
"Why do you eat with sinners?"
they demanded.
He replied, "It is the sinners
I have come to save."
He healed a man
with a withered hand.
They complained:
"You did it on the wrong day."
When they asked him,
"Whom are your brethren?"
He looked around
and said: "Behold!"
To the young woman
who was fast asleep,
they heard him whisper,
"Talitha cumi."
"Are you Elia,
one of the prophets?
Or John the Baptist,
risen from the dead?"
They spoke
of the traditions.
He spoke
of so many hypocrites.
When they asked him
for a sign from heaven,
he gave them his sign -
a deep sign.
Here is what
the blind man said:
"I see men as trees,
walking!"
For his passage
through Galilee,
he travelled
incognito.
"Better to enter
into the kingdom of God
with one eye
than into hell with two."
They stood in awe
of their immense Temple.
He warned them: "No stone
will stand upon another."
"When desolation comes,"
he cautioned,
"pray the tie
will not be winter."
He predicted war,
revolution, disaster,
famine and death.
He prophesied:
"There will be
no end of trouble
because there will be
no end."
*
*
Suffering A Life
Thin lines whose only hope . . .
Remembered music.
Things are not yet complete.
Hours. Ours.
Iwaniuk: "Who bleeds in my dreams."
Failed expectations.
You have nothing to learn.
West of the World.
Celebrations. Or consolations?
Thin lines who only hope . . .
*
Errata, after Miguel Barnet
Where it says live, it should say love.
Where it says truth, it should say truths.
Where it says action, it should say affection.
Where it says, it should say.
*
Other Confederations
1.
From Asia Minor
a torn postcard:
Wish you were -
2.
Every country is beautiful
and every government inept.
3.
The world is so full
of transient perfections
and intransigent imperfections.
4.
"What hope is there?"
she asked the poet.
"The only hope lies
in what impels me to write
and you to listen."
5.
If I were a people
I would want a country
fairer than France,
shrewder than Switzerland,
happier than Hebrides.
6.
Art: it moves us
from the immense
to the intense.
7.
Men and women,
like Cocteau's mirrors,
would do well
to reflect more.
8.
Each line is on its own.
Each life is lived alone.
9.
Not to dance
one must be
a Buddha of wood
a Buddha of iron
a Buddha of bone
a Buddha of stone.
10.
I will be the book
if you will be the story.
11.
Long live that sunny day,
July 23, 1972.
12.
Tories lead from the rear.
(Herd, refuse to be cattle!)
13.
"In time even this
may be pleasant to remember."
14.
Japanese proverb:
Not to know is to be a Buddha.
*
Poetry Reading
We are indeed lucky to have with us today
Our poet has written the following books
So without further ado here is
For my first poem I would like to read
Now the poem I want to read is
For my final poem I would like to read
Now if there are any questions I am sure
No questions?
Well if there are any answers
Colombo.
Capital and chief port
of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka,
in the Indian Ocean.
Colombo.
Obscure for of Calumba,
a root indigenous
to the forests of Mozambique.
A bitter substance
used as a mild tonic.
Colombo.
For "Colombo's Agent,"
see "Hunter's Robe."
A devil's-ivy, a tall, climbing
plant of the Solomonic Islands;
with leaves marked pale yellow,
flowers enclosed in spikes.
Colombo.
Plan for Co-operative Development
in South and South-East Asia,
to aid developing countries
through bilateral member agreements.
Headquarters: Colombo.
Colombo.
Russ Colombo,
popular Italian-American singer,
who shot himself in 1934,
cleaning his rifle.
Colombo.
Joseph Columbo,
Mafia chieftain;
shot down in Columbus Circle,
New York City, 1971.
Colombo.
"Lieutenant Colombo,"
popular television series
starring Peter Falk
as the wall-eyed detective.
Colombo.
A walled plain
in the forth quadrant
of the moon.
John
"Entrance door. Nice,
simple and gentle name,
breathing true poetry,
self-control, noble independence,
love of truth, a reserve
which conceals high feeling."
(From a Dream Book)
*
My Genealogy
1.
My great-great-grandfather
played in the streets
of Milano, I am told.
I take it on faith.
2.
His son, the artisan,
immigrated to Baden, Ontario,
as a decorator or builder.
I believe this, but never met him.
3.
My grandfather was born
in Baden, and he married
a German girl there.
I remember him well -
he spoke English
with a German accent.
4.
My grandparents lived
in Berlin, Ontario,
when it changed its name to
honour Lord Kitchener.
They made an unusual couple -
he was more than six feet tall,
she barely five - but together
they produced fourteen children.
5.
One of those fourteen Colombos
was my father. He spoke English
with a Pennsylvania-Dutch accent.
6.
He married a Kitchener girl,
and I was born in that city -
with its light industry
and its farmer's market -
in that city, an only child.
7.
I remember quite distinctly
my mother's parents, my grand-
parents. My grandfather spoke
with a thick Greek accent,
and my larger grandmother,
a nasal Quebec French. Yes,
they made a colourful couple.
8.
They first met in Montreal,
lived in Toronto for a while,
finally settled in Kitchener.
They had five children,
and their arguments had to be
heard to be believed.
9.
Blood flows through my veins
at different speeds:
Italian, German,
Greek, French-Canadian.
Sometimes it mixes.
10.
At times I feel close
to the Aegean
the Côte d'Azur,
the Lombard Plain,
and the Black Forest.
11.
I seldom feel close
to the Rocky Mountains,
the Prairies,
the Great Lakes,
or the cold St. Lawrence.
What am I doing in Toronto?
12.
If this means being Canadian,
I am a Canadian.
*
Dossier
5 feet 9 inches
180 pounds
Temperature: 98.6 F.
Pulse: Normal
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Build: Heavy set
Caucasian
Born: March 24, 1936
Social Insurance Number:
400-578-647
Distinguishing features
(If any): None
How many facts
Make a fiction?
*
No Birthday Party This Year
Today I turned thirty-five.
No regrets, only misgivings.
I check my horoscope in the paper.
"Aries. You have reaches a plateau.
Difficulties lie ahead."
No comfort there.
In the same paper I note
what an astronomer has to say:
"Ours is a middle-aged sun."
That helped, a little.
*
Scenes of My Dreams
A sunny day
at St. Tropez.
Walking down
the Champs-Élysées.
With you,
on Fifth Avenue.
Trafalgar Square,
imperially bare.
Antigua Bay
when we got away.
In Red Square
with snow in the air.
Brussels, alas,
for its Grande Place.
Lovely Lucerne,
and Berne.
*
Notes on a Northern Lake
1.
We freeze in our beds
The wind sends shivers across the lake
2.
We swelter in the open air
The sun sends lava across the lake
3.
We move among the trees
And through the woods the lake moves too
*
Louis Riel, after Miroslav Holub
Children, when was
Louis Riel born,
asks the teacher.
A thousand years ago, the children answer.
A hundred years ago, the children answer.
Last year, the children answer.
No one knows.
Children, what did
Louis Riel do,
asks the teacher.
Won a war, the children answer.
Lost a war, the children answer.
No one knows.
Our neighbour had a dog
called Louis,
replies one of the children.
Our neighbour used to beat him up
and the dog died of hunger
a year ago.
Now all the children feel sorry
for Louis.
*
The Khyber Pass
I will never see the Khyber Pass
never enter it there in the distance
between those two mountainous ranges
well beyond the curvature of the planet
bu in my mind's eye I behold it here
this very moment in Toronto
and rain or shine night or day
I enter it Kind of the Khyber Pass
*
The Grange, Toronto
Old men play chess
under trees.
Caterpillars turn
into butterflies.
Pawns turn
into queens.
*
In the Universe
There is a house
and a wife
and a child
and a refrigerator
and a book
and a furnace.
There is a root
and a trunk
and a branch
and a leaf
and a bud
and a sun.
There is a community
and a friendship
and a future
and a hunger
and a history
and a reason for it all.
*
Afternoon Claude Monet Visits
In California, where Asia is
Or he took her like an inheritance
Or by now we are half-doomed anyway
Or my trade is chagrin
Or slowly rotting in another man's country
Or Maya Plisetskaya is the part of Pavlova that Fonteyn isn't
Or Albanian for Albania is Shqipëria
Or when he looks there is nothing there
Or twelve including Castro in the Sierra Mastra
Or the night is rather longer than it would be without the rain
Or nor do immortals need to think
Or we - and by this I mean you and me, mostly
Or a touch of Aritotle, a dash of Barnum
Or afternoons Claude Monet vists
Or I live among mysteries
Or the diameter of the planet is
Or stand int he corner an try not to think of a white bear
Or that one must have hurt
Or why are odd numbers so much harder to add than even
Or but not necessarily in that order
So Wu Tao-tzu the T'ang painter
Wandered into one of his own landscapes
And disappeared
*
Seven Ways of Being Herostratus
1. Be Herostratus.
2. Be born Herostratus.
3. Be christened Herostratus.
4. Go by the name of Herostratus.
5. Expect and encourage others to call you Herostratus.
6. Be an Ephesian and break the law forbidding any mention of Herostratus.
7. Be an Ephesian named Herostratus and set fire to the Temple of Diana in 356 B.C. so your name will be immortal.
*
Versions of St. Mark, for Pier Paolo Pasolini
When he cured the leper,
he cautioned the man,
"Say nothing"
But he said much.
*
"Why do you eat with sinners?"
they demanded.
He replied, "It is the sinners
I have come to save."
*
He healed a man
with a withered hand.
They complained:
"You did it on the wrong day."
*
When they asked him,
"Whom are your brethren?"
He looked around
and said: "Behold!"
*
To the young woman
who was fast asleep,
they heard him whisper,
"Talitha cumi."
*
"Are you Elia,
one of the prophets?
Or John the Baptist,
risen from the dead?"
*
They spoke
of the traditions.
He spoke
of so many hypocrites.
*
When they asked him
for a sign from heaven,
he gave them his sign -
a deep sign.
*
Here is what
the blind man said:
"I see men as trees,
walking!"
*
For his passage
through Galilee,
he travelled
incognito.
*
"Better to enter
into the kingdom of God
with one eye
than into hell with two."
*
They stood in awe
of their immense Temple.
He warned them: "No stone
will stand upon another."
*
"When desolation comes,"
he cautioned,
"pray the tie
will not be winter."
*
He predicted war,
revolution, disaster,
famine and death.
He prophesied:
*
"There will be
no end of trouble
because there will be
no end."
*
Concrete Poem
SCULPTURE
SCUL TURE
SCU R URE
SC ART RE
S EARTH E
SC ART RE
SCU R URE
SCUL TURE
SCULPTURE
*
Suffering A Life
Thin lines whose only hope . . .
Remembered music.
Things are not yet complete.
Hours. Ours.
Iwaniuk: "Who bleeds in my dreams."
Failed expectations.
You have nothing to learn.
West of the World.
Celebrations. Or consolations?
Thin lines who only hope . . .
*
Errata, after Miguel Barnet
Where it says live, it should say love.
Where it says truth, it should say truths.
Where it says action, it should say affection.
Where it says, it should say.
*
Other Confederations
1.
From Asia Minor
a torn postcard:
Wish you were -
2.
Every country is beautiful
and every government inept.
3.
The world is so full
of transient perfections
and intransigent imperfections.
4.
"What hope is there?"
she asked the poet.
"The only hope lies
in what impels me to write
and you to listen."
5.
If I were a people
I would want a country
fairer than France,
shrewder than Switzerland,
happier than Hebrides.
6.
Art: it moves us
from the immense
to the intense.
7.
Men and women,
like Cocteau's mirrors,
would do well
to reflect more.
8.
Each line is on its own.
Each life is lived alone.
9.
Not to dance
one must be
a Buddha of wood
a Buddha of iron
a Buddha of bone
a Buddha of stone.
10.
I will be the book
if you will be the story.
11.
Long live that sunny day,
July 23, 1972.
12.
Tories lead from the rear.
(Herd, refuse to be cattle!)
13.
"In time even this
may be pleasant to remember."
14.
Japanese proverb:
Not to know is to be a Buddha.
*
Poetry Reading
We are indeed lucky to have with us today
Our poet has written the following books
So without further ado here is
For my first poem I would like to read
Now the poem I want to read is
For my final poem I would like to read
Now if there are any questions I am sure
No questions?
Well if there are any answers
Displaying 1 of 1 review