Duane Vorhees was born in Germantown, Ohio, near the Indiana border. He moved to nearby Farmersville when he was 10 and spent his adolescence there -- or, rather, his adolescence spent him! After high school he briefly attended "The" Ohio State University before graduating from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio with a degree in American Studies. And then, predictably enough, he left Ohio for good (or bad, of course, depending on one's preference). He has spent most of his life abroad, mainly teaching in Korea and Japan for the marvelously redundantly named University of Maryland University College. Now he is happily retired in Khon Kaen, Thailand, where he publishes a daily creative arts magazine, duanespoetree.blogspot.com.
Not-snow taste tins on lips,
knees winter-reminisce.
“Uncertain poor shepherds?”
Damascus
Yes, we been Damascus,
we been Jerusalem:
one place fulla caskets,
one of diadems.
And if you was to ask us
which one we’d choose o’ them—
the mounds of retirement,
or the crown of desire, yeah,
well, some days the caskets,
and some the diadems.
‘Cause we been Damascus,
we been Jerusalem.
Headlines and What Happened to Our Myths
SENSORS STRETTTCH OUT INTO X
fairies who cared for us are now buried
CHANGE OF VIEW ENDANGERS STATE
gnomes aren’t zoned for total-electric homes
CENSORS ATTACK WITH THREATS AND X’S
cyclops in smog will OD on eye drops
STAKES WAGERED ON X AND O
trolls froze—they were exposed to rock-n-roll
CANNONS AT COLLEGES AIMED
giants can’t beat the brains out of science
CHANGE COLLECTED IN CHURCH PLATE
elves are less magic than unconscious selves
CANON COMPOSES NEW STATUS QUO
genies gulled into bottles by a gene
STAKES AND OLD BELIEVERS FLAME
Jesus extradited: expired visas
SENSORS STRETCH INTO NEW X
On Returning Home Anew After Half a Century
where ghosts and memories forever reign
everything/nothing is still the same
strange faces on familiar names
changed functions for famous frames
remembering unremembered chimes
but the sky! the sky remains
Not-snow taste tins on lips,
knees winter-reminisce.
“Uncertain poor shepherds?”
Damascus
Yes, we been Damascus,
we been Jerusalem:
one place fulla caskets,
one of diadems.
And if you was to ask us
which one we’d choose o’ them—
the mounds of retirement,
or the crown of desire, yeah,
well, some days the caskets,
and some the diadems.
‘Cause we been Damascus,
we been Jerusalem.
Headlines and What Happened to Our Myths
SENSORS STRETTTCH OUT INTO X
fairies who cared for us are now buried
CHANGE OF VIEW ENDANGERS STATE
gnomes aren’t zoned for total-electric homes
CENSORS ATTACK WITH THREATS AND X’S
cyclops in smog will OD on eye drops
STAKES WAGERED ON X AND O
trolls froze—they were exposed to rock-n-roll
CANNONS AT COLLEGES AIMED
giants can’t beat the brains out of science
CHANGE COLLECTED IN CHURCH PLATE
elves are less magic than unconscious selves
CANON COMPOSES NEW STATUS QUO
genies gulled into bottles by a gene
STAKES AND OLD BELIEVERS FLAME
Jesus extradited: expired visas
SENSORS STRETCH INTO NEW X
On Returning Home Anew After Half a Century
where ghosts and memories forever reign
everything/nothing is still the same
strange faces on familiar names
changed functions for famous frames
remembering unremembered chimes
but the sky! the sky remains
Duane Vorhees
