011Peycho Kanev is the author of 4 poetry collections and two chapbooks, published in USA and Europe. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, such as: Poetry Quarterly, Evergreen Review, Front Porch Review, Hawaii Review, Barrow Street, Sheepshead Review, Off the Coast, The Adirondack Review, Sierra Nevada Review, The Cleveland Review and many others.

4th of July

The old veteran sits
by the window in his
wheelchair in the nursing
home and he just stares.

Then the fireworks began
to explode all over the city
but he continues to stare with
a crooked smile on his face.

Eternity

Tiny specks of light on her face
and behind my immaculate eyes

We were kids then and now
we are old but they still
twinkle in the dark

What is that?

Freckles and love, my love,
in one–

Postscript

On this blank page
I imagine writing unwritten
words for you with a stiff
and colloquial tone.

The future impinge upon
the present –
before and then.

Through the window I see
this lonely cloud pierced
by a single sunbeam
like a haze over a concentration camp,

and I know that I shouldn’t have
talked, but to keep my mouth shut,
is death for me
like it is death for you
even more…

Everything that I see
is destined to outlive us.