Stephen Hemenway: California Poets Part 9, Five Poems

Stephen Hemenway

December 22nd, 2025

California Poets: Part IX

Stephen Hemenway

Five Poems

Journal of _________

undated

float

favor the

lapse of thought                       

calm and undulating                                   

the water glistening in

the eye and            

I am at home in the world

November 15^th

we are once more

grief regret smiles

oh      

look kindly at us

from the snow of the far-off mountains

November 16^th

his eye upon the earth

his mind dispersed

in his own circle            

to wander and part

blooming transitory boughs

hill-thick horizons

November 17^th

a dream of a dark prow

its sandy bottom in early sunlight

there goes the dull circulation

a streak of white a streak of meadows

a murmur surface to bind the I

I know when to taunt to chirp and dust

how to inhabit an unpropitious necessity

November 18^th

a short dull sound shorn of smoke

they look over nothing constantly

turning to unexplored noise why

is it that discord flits across the

landscape and where is its origin

Note: These poems were written using words, phrases and sentence fragments from Henry David Thoreau's journal.

Author Bio:

Stephen Hemenway received his Master of Arts in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and lives in Oakland, California.  He has a book, untitled ocean, coming out from Apogee Press in early 2026.