Without Lifting A Finger

Another old poem I just found on the Net in Right Hand Pointing: "Heart." Had totally forgotten it. Not sure whether it ever made it into one of my books. Heart 1. Words. Symbols. Sums. What fraction of reality gets into them? The commerce of the hordes, he thinks. The earth-dwellers.  Those with the hubristic screech and scrawl. 2. Heart is playing at the Hollywood Bowl tonight ( Crazy on You ). He is tooling  about trying to get the right combination of nibbles and bits:  Pinot noir,  brie, fresh figs, etc.  Leaving TJ’s, he flinches, then grabs a few plastic  knives and forks from their holsters on the wall.  Sorry, he thinks.  We’ve done this to ourselves. We’re doing it.  Stopping  isn’t an option.          

An old poem of mine that my AI kicked up tonight (from my book Matman & Testudo): "Surface Tension." I had almost forgotten it. LAUSD was "restructuring" and my principal said, "Don't worry, you'll land somewhere. You're a good teacher." I landed somewhere, then somewhere else. Etc. Stressful but fun -- exploring many places I had no idea about, even teaching some simple science. Anyway, here's the poem (inspired by my drive in the morning, over the two bridges to and through San Pedro CA). Surface Tension If the paperclip doesn’t float on the water’s surface, first lay a thin piece of paper on the water, then lay the clip gently on the paper * He’s not drowning. The nearest body of water is the bottle of water in the back of the car, wedged between two Blue Ice Blocks in his Igloo. Still, he sits behind the wheel taking in little fish gulps, as though staving off the big gulp that would take him under  *  The way to his new job takes h...

  My "Dipper Day" (all about the bird and more) is in the current Meniscus 14.1 (2026), pp. 141 - 142. See what you think (see "tease" above)! Thanks to Jen Webb and all the Meniscus staff. https://www.meniscus.org.au/_files/ugd/7c40c1_9e1f0dd429934dc88f099994dda0d83a.pdf #rlswihart13 #meniscusliteraryjournal  #dipperday #poetry #readmorepoetry2026💕

Written in 2025 with the release of Meniscus (June 2025):

Three new poems are up at Off Course Issue #103 (12/2025): "Drink Deep," "Dylan Whiskey Bar," and "Without Leaving the Farm." Thank you, Ricardo and Isabel Nirenberg. Off Course #103

These Kindle e-books will make perfect free gifts for yourself or someone else. Available Dec 19 to Dec 23 @ Amazon. Only The Last Man will be available starting tomorrow. Available Dec 15th to Dec 19th.

Perhaps I'm a bit late to the party, but today I thought I'd mention three book reviews that have been penned (quite generously) about some of my books throughout the years. The first two are online, so you can easily follow the links (see below): both were written by the author and co-publisher (with his wife Isabel) of the online journal Off Course , Ricardo Nirenberg. The first review Ricardo wrote was for my very first book: The Last Man (published in 2012). He writes that it's hard to decide which poem in the book is his favorite, but finally settles on "Algorithm" -- an early poem that I wrote while I was teaching high school mathematics. "It is hard or impossible to decide, yet -- for sentimental reasons, as the song goes -- I think one of my favorite pieces in this book is titled ALGORITHM." And then he includes the entire poem: ALGORITHM  Take any segment and drop out the middle third. Take the remaining thirds and repeat the process, i.e. take ...

Don't know if any of my poems (or my White Bird) draw anything but unconscious inspiration from Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird" (gotta love Christine McVie, RIP), but it's a great song and a good one for promoting my "free give away" of all four of my books: Kindle eBooks ONLY @ Amazon. Starting tomorrow: Friday, July 18 (see titles and dates above). Limited Time Only. 💗 #rlswihart #poetry #freeebookgiveaway #amazon.com #readmorepoetry2025💗

My poem, "The White Bird," first published in the now defunct Pif Magazine, lends its title to my latest book, which is now available at Amazon. The White Bird Or more precisely the oracular white wings tracing an impossible curve (above and below the axis of the body) against the blue above the shore * Before morning, by some Aristotelian trick, the shore was gone and only the motion returned White , but only the word  

  My poem "Gold Beach" just came out in the Meniscus Literary Journal of Australia (Volume 13, Issue 1, 2025). Much thanks to Jenn Webb and everyone else involved in the production. The link is below, and you'll need to navigate to p. 190 to read my poem. But don't stop there: read the whole issue.;) https://www.meniscus.org.au/_files/ugd/7c40c1_534d5b7c88cd45a08e0a239bd3b61c8b.pdf

My fourth book of poetry, The White Bird, is now available at Amazon. Thus far: only the Kindle eBook is available (the paperback is still in the oven but will be out soon). The eBook will be free to download from Friday, March 21 to Tuesday, March 25. Thanks to Jen Webb (Meniscus) for the blurb: She's described The White Bird to a T. Note: Just checked: The paperback version of The White Bird is now available at Amazon (3/19/2025). #rlswihart #thewhitebird #poetry #newbook #3/18/2025 #Amazon.com

  A bit of a tease: you'll have to go to the Poetry Foundation to read the whole poem (see link below). PF has posted two of my poems now ("Totem" and "Completely Possible," both previously appearing in Quadrant Magazine). https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/1578897/completely-possible #rlswihart #poetry #completelypossible #poetryfoundation #previouslypublishedinquadrant

New poem in storySouth (Issue 58: Fall 2024): "Another Good Read." Thanks, Story, for including me.;)♥️ http://storysouth.com/stories/another-good-read/ #rlswihart #storySouth #poetryisthething #poetry #AnotherGoodRead #tistheseason #readmorepoetry2024♥️🎄♥️🎄

Two new poems -- "Heretic" & "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (see teaser) -- are in the latest In Parentheses. Trouble is: it costs. But there's a lot to love, and the digital version is less than $5. Check it out! #rlswihart #InParentheses #Heretic #GoodbyeYellowBrickRoad #poetry #readmorepoetry2024❤️🎈

A new poem, "Sometimes," has been published in the October 2024 issue of Quadrant Magazine. Surprise Surprise: it's about a little bird. You should be able to read the whole poem at the following link: https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/poetry/rl-swihart-sometimes/ #rlswihart13 #rlswihart #sometimes #poetry #art #littlebirds #quadrantmagazine #readmorepoetry2024🎈♥️🪶

Harry K Stammer (harry k stammer): Kinda following in the footprints of Mark Young's Otoliths (still available online but has officially "breathed its last") with UTRICULI. Some wild stuff. Anything goes. You'll enjoy flipping through all of it: Issue 1: Parts 1 & 2. I have three "longish" pieces ("Castlerigg," "Bent Neil," "The Sum of All Our Hopes and Fears") in Part 1. I guess you'll also be able to purchase it on Amazon soon. https://www.sandy-press.com/ #rlswihart #poetry #art #harrykstammer #utriculi #tgif #readmorepoetry2024🎈♥️🪶

The next best thing to being in Poetry Magazine: Having your bio and poem(s) published in The Poetry Foundation. My bio has been in TPF for some while, and now, if you follow one of the links below, you can read my poem "Totem" (first published in Quadrant Magazine and included in my book Woodhenge). I believe a second poem ("Completely Possible") will soon follow. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/people/r-l-swihart https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/1578913/totem #rlswihart #thepoetryfoundation #tpf #totem #poetry #art  #readmorepoetry2024🎈♥️🪶

New Poem in Quadrant Magazine (May 2024). You can buy the magazine, read the "tease" above, or follow the link below (where you should be able to read the whole poem). Thanks to Barry Spurr and staff at Quadrant. "October: Consecutive Days" https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2024/05/r-l-swihart-october-consecutive-days/ #rlswihart #quadrantmagazine #may3024 #october:consecutivedays #nature #poetry #beauty #deathoffriend #readmorepoetry2024🎈♥️🪶

My poem "My Sweet Girl" (pp. 161 - 162) is in the current issue of Meniscus. Thanks to Jen Webb and Everyone at Meniscus. My Sweet Girl, Volume 11, Issue 2 #rlswihart13 #meniscus #mysweetgirl #readmorepoetry2023♥️

My new poem -- "I'm Full" -- is up at The Bookends Review. Give it a whirl and many thanks to the editor, Jordan Blum.