Not
my first third world barkathon sleep pierced by jumbled curs not my first courtyard fountain mask and lull bus and phlegmy snores be damned not my first sandaled morning shuffle through volcanic ash season of belch and spew not my first migratory warbler pink-headed wine-throated bar-winged feathers that could spawn a new faith not my first central market Guava Guayaba Jocote every stall a fruity similitude not my first for sure Juan will Jose will Rafael will unclog tomorrow replace tomorrow spray tomorrow your running toilet your fusty curtain those bugs beneath the kitchen sink not my first roadside cairn twig cross photo frame bits and memorial bobs sum of zigzag rattletrap eyes for an instant pulled from the road not my first shardtopped wall charged razorwire hedgehidden compound whittled bamboo keepthehellaway not my first cobblestone lurch wine and local tidbits lovey-dovey purr and coo home to consummate on rented sheets
Author’s note: These photos were taken in Morocco, Colombia, Guatemala, and the US.
Jeff Schiff is a poet, photographer, and educator whose work has appeared over four decades in more than a hundred and thirty publications worldwide, including The Alembic, Bellingham Review, Cincinnati Review, Grand Street, Ohio Review, Poet & Critic, Tulane Review, Tampa Review, Louisville Review, Tendril, Pembroke Magazine, Carolina Review, Chicago Review, Hawaii Review, Southern Humanities Review, River City, Indiana Review, Willow Springs, and Southwest Review. He has been a member of the faculty at Columbia College Chicago since 1987.
These are incredible photos enhanced by incredible words. Love this suite and commentary.