#igorbrezhnev

after bulat okudzhava
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i’m just on february duty,
april’s taken, march is foolish,
and the summer is so far away.
i’m just on february duty, watching
snow come and go. i’d forget my own
voice at night when only wind performs.
there’s beauty. stark and cold. i’m just 
on february duty. cupping cigarettes 
in hand and making footprints. what 
if sudden comes the call. which of
magicians is on duty, who will go?
i will answer: i’m just on february 
duty. i will go. none will know,
but the hidden round stars.
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portland, oregon / 2.12.2021
patreon.com/igorbrezhnev
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#poetry #poem #patreon #igorbrezhnev #pdxpoetry #typewriter #winter #portland #february (at Portland, Oregon)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLQRm8SBTzp/?igshid=1lz43dkczsidl

still writing every day, just taking a break from posting every day, but there are daily poems on my patreon if that’s your cup of tea. 
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what color is a joy?
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what color is a joy? 
can i chameleon my
eyes to that lost hue?
can i paint the gloomy
winter landscapes with
blooms of hummingbirds
and chattering of bluejays
as though it is spring? what
palette contains the flowers
in the open fields? what brush
is like the ocean wave to wash 
the cold and rain away? tell me,
tell me, painter, how can i draw
the night as day? which shade
in chiaroscuro will resurrect 
the liveliness of verdant
streets? which jasmine
god would heed such
ink-stained prayers?
what color is a joy?
please, tell me, 
dear painter.
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portland, oregon / 2.6.2021
patreon.com/igorbrezhnev
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#poetry #poem #patreon #igorbrezhnev #pdxpoetry #typewriter #winter #portland #joy #color (at Portland, Oregon)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLAd5bjhhDP/?igshid=o29osr9bp7f5

hypnotized by time,
the city, dazed, drizzled,
smothered by harsh lights,
slides on slick rubber tires 
to another month. i, with
it, slide, peering through
a car window at soggy
stalagmites of buildings,
dark sorry things perched 
along the january freeway.
the driver stuffs fries under
his mask, slurps soda with
a straw, tells me i am his
last passenger tonight.
i want to ask him to
take me to spring,
skip february all
together. i don’t.
i am my own slow
time machine. i will
get then one night at 
a time. so will the city.
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portland, oregon / 1.31.2021
patreon.com/igorbrezhnev
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#poetry #poem #patreon #igorbrezhnev #pdxpoetry #typewriter #winter #portland #eternalrain #timemachine (at Portland, Oregon)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKw_OQJhzn5/?igshid=1bd2q923ftd9b

may you know contentment 
of a silent bed keeping your dreams;
of raising the blinds to let in the sun;
of watching the boiling water come
morning, knowing the steps that
will turn the powder into coffee;
of making the first sip, your
hair a mess yet, glorious
warmth on your tongue;
of letting the falling
water wash away
sleep, unhurried;
of feeding the cat,
it rubbing up on your
ankles, purring its song;
of going about your day,
every task a small wonder
in that it is done; of the eve
or the night that close your 
eyes for a time; of dreams
kept for you by your bed. may you know contentment
of a life that is lived. i forget sometimes it even exists,
then borrow it once in a while.
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portland, oregon / 1.29.2021
patreon.com/igorbrezhnev 
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#poetry #poem #patreon #igorbrezhnev #pdxpoetry #typewriter #contentment (at Portland, Oregon)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKsAIgWhxlF/?igshid=fpkjb4bvi8qt

let’s baptise all the puddles 
and streams. let’s chant every 
holy name of the rain to its beat.
let’s ask the tender meteorologists 
for a chance of gray melancholies in
our sky. let’s stir the mud as though
we are fixing to make a new life.
let’s lean into the weather like
it’s the first time. let’s write 
psalms to all of this water
with our fingers on windows
fogged up by our breath. let’s
twirl the umbrellas like pinwheels.
let’s shake like wet dogs and splash.
let’s parade every sadness through
the damp streets. let’s give the rain
a few reasons to fall. not that it
wouldn’t. but at least we
would have tried.
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portland, oregon / 1.27.2021
patreon.com/igorbrezhnev 
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#poetry #poem #patreon #igorbrezhnev #pdxpoetry #typewriter #rain (at Portland, Oregon)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKm58UMhaSR/?igshid=uuj3kkseunqb

the news headline read:
“multiple people struck by
car in southeast portland”. it
would change later to “one dead
after car strikes multiple pedestrians
in portland, oregon”. a litany of street
names and numbers familiar to my
feet. a chaotic description of hurt,
a selfish thought of “i hope it is
no one i know” i still do not 
know. wondering whose
days got cut short.
stark, belmont, pine,
thirty third. “driver caught”.
reportedly said “ah. that’s too 
bad” when someone told him he
ended a life. tomorrow this news
will be buried under a big heap of
new news. “ice covers sahara desert 
for just fourth time in fifty years”, “third
oregonian confirmed to have more 
contagious”, “venezuela sends
oxygen to brazil”, “president
signs”… there is a vigil. 
one human is dead.
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portland, oregon / 1.25.2021
patreon.com/igorbrezhnev
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#poetry #poem #patreon #igorbrezhnev #pdxpoetry #typewriter #news (at Portland, Oregon)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKhhY00BVQ-/?igshid=1pem6appwyvrp

look, how it hangs 
there, above, so yellow,
not yet full of itself, ready to
hide beyond the broken horizon
of neighborhood roofs. below it
a large surreptitious raccoon
crosses the street diagonally
on business of life, i assume.
if you were here you could
see my breath making 
clouds. i would tell
you that not every 
story is an allegory,
some are just the way 
that they are. full of time.
one paw forward. viscous 
living. taste of smoke and
strong tea. cold and quiet.
it’s easier to know we are
alive at night and its why.
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portland, oregon / 1.22.2021
patreon.com/igorbrezhnev
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#poetry #poem #patreon #igorbrezhnev #pdxpoetry #typewriter #moon #raccoon #allegory (at Portland, Oregon)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKaLjfUBgmF/?igshid=8nck7q13w2ps

what does it say about
the people if their favorite
photo is of a tired man that
is wearing mittens? a cutout
passed from one frame to 
the next, a symbol of…
well, something. in two
weeks it will be something
else. americans love their 
show. it must. it must go
on. and us, who found
themselves here. what
does that say about 
us? maybe we too
love the show or
maybe the show
came to our shores
and swept us like old
popcorn into this cinema.
no definitive answers. guess
we’ll just have to watch and see.
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portland, oregon / 1.21.2021
patreon.com/igorbrezhnev
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#poetry #poem #patreon #igorbrezhnev #pdxpoetry #typewriter #maninmittens #mittens #theamericanshow #showmustgoon #attentionspan (at Portland, Oregon)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKXW-NYBwfN/?igshid=w53go1bq7cev