4051.
Red Coals Pulse Like Distant Stars
The last light slips behind the ridge,
a thin ember of day still glowing.
Boots thud softly on the packed earth,
the air cooling with each step.
Evening begins before we notice.
A match flares against the breeze,
brief and stubborn in the dim.
Paper curls into orange petals,
logs shift as if waking.
Fire learns its shape slowly.
Smoke threads upward in loose spirals,
finding its own quiet route.
A kettle hums near the campfire coals,
steam rising like a soft prayer.
Night accepts our presence.
Tall trunks stand just beyond the glow,
their crowns lost to the dark.
The fire paints their bark in strokes
of copper, rust, and shadow.
Even giants enjoy a little warmth.
Voices soften as the flames steady,
words drifting like sparks.
Some tales are true, some nearly so,
all of them shaped by the night.
The campfire listens without judgment.
Logs collapse inward with a sigh,
a slow settling of heat and memory.
Red coals pulse like distant stars,
steady, patient, unhurried.
The night grows deeper around them.
The fire shrinks to a quiet glow,
its edges soft as worn cloth.
Ash gathers in pale drifts,
the remains of what kept us warm.
Nothing ends abruptly out here.
The final spark dims into silence,
leaving only the scent of smoke.
Stars settle into their places,
unbothered by our small rituals.
The forest closes gently around us.
"Based on an analysis of his comprehensive archives, Michael Peter Garofalo's poetic research holds significant unique value, particularly within the niche fields of short-form constraints, specialized poetic structures, and digital-era indexing.
As a professional librarian with a background in philosophy, Garofalo doesn't just write poetry; he taxonomizes it with academic rigor, making his research highly valuable to specific groups.
Here is a breakdown of why his poetic research is considered valuable, along with areas of limitation:
The five-line stanza is historically under-researched in Western prosody compared to couplets or quatrains. Garofalo’s compilation establishes an exhaustive masterclass on the form. He analyzes and systematically categorizes:
Traditional & International Forms: Tanka, Waka, Gogyohka (Japanese), Mukhammas (Persian/Urdu), and Spanish Quintillas.
American Variations: Comprehensive structural rules for Adelaide Crapsey's Cinquain, Reverse Cinquains, and Butterfly Cinquains.
Nomenclature for Custom Rhyme Schemes: He famously constructed a geographic mapping index to define custom line structures based on West Coast locales (e.g., the Bellingham Form = AAAAA, the Cayucos Form = AAABB, and the Cambria Form = ABCBC).
Garofalo has contributed uniquely to formal poetry constraints by inventing entirely new frameworks:
Quintain Sonnets: In 2021, he expanded traditional sonnet structures to define four completely distinct, unique 14-line layout patterns explicitly relying on five-line groupings (the 5252, 554, 555, and 553 sonnet patterns). He field-tested this innovation by publishing over 86 original quintain sonnets.
Constraint Boundaries: He formalized frameworks like the Monterey Quintet (a strict 5-7-5-7-7 syllable distribution) and the Aberdeen Quintet (a hyper-minimalist form restricted to exactly 10 words total).
From a scholarly perspective, his research pages serve as a massive, meticulously cross-referenced database. Peer reviewers and concrete poetry critics (such as Brad Burg and Christina Conrad) have explicitly praised his online registries as "the most extensive site" and a "superb online directory" for concrete, visual, and haiku poetry on the internet. His unwavering open-access philosophy (keeping thousands of indexing items ad-free, data-tracking free, and completely unrestricted) provides rare educational utility.
While highly thorough in cataloging layout and rhyme constraints, Garofalo openly admits where his research takes a step back:
The "Madness" of Metrics: Garofalo famously leaves metric scansion (the study of traditional feet like iambs, trochees, and stressed/unstressed syllables) out of his heavy deep-dives, stating that analyzing metrics "just drives me mad". For traditional academic purists looking for complex prosody metrics, his research relies instead on syllable boundaries, constraint count rules, and end-rhymes. He mentions that
he will include research on metric scansion starting in July of 2026.
Michael P. Garofalo’s research is not a typical text of academic literary criticism, but rather a practical, beautifully structured toolkit for formalist poets. For anyone looking to understand constraints, explore the structural geometry of short verse, or look for alternative digital methods to organize creative repositories, his life's work is an incredibly meticulous and valuable resource."
- Google Gemini AI, 7/12/2026
3670.
Very tired now,
the orange sun went down,
a mood of dusk settled in,
The birds stopped singing suddenly;
I stopped reading, too fatigued.
3671.
Looking to Antiquity
Proceeding upstream
From here-now to way back when
Looking for causes
Tracking etymologies
Answering authentically.
3672.
A chickadee eats
in a still square feeder---
birdseed scatters
A squirrel eats
from a rocking bird feeder---
tail balanced
3673.
I'm a bald old man
with a white-gray beard
with bruises on my hands
with a clumsy gait to mark my pace
and restless tremors in my hands.
3674.
The steel bridge does not sway
Despite the high tides raging today.
As heavy fog rolls over the bay;
The fishing boats bounce in the docks.
In warm cafes---fishermen talk.
3675.
The southwest wind blows hard and cold
Blowing sand across Grayland's shore.
We bend and dig the fleeing clams.
Flashlights focus on wholes in the sand.
Sea and sand --- sand and clams.
3676.
Nothing said something astray
That captured meaning in silent ways.
Grasped the book I could not read
Of poetry in ideograms of Mandarin Chinese.
Reveled in the beauty of calligraphy.
3677.
Rising river snapped the earthen dykes
Tossing black rocks from side to side
Spring mud in the brown currents of the flood.
Trees and branches floating on by....
Picked up a trailer--- I hope nobody's inside.
3678.
I forgot the plot...
A green rubber hose uncoils
Seconds spray out the nozzle
Green leaves hung on thoughts
Watered memories of childhood gardens.
3679.
Waiting for Verbs at Sentence End
Spilled semantics:
Rubberbands on cautious adjectives,
Paper clips holding weak nouns,
Hissing phonemes in the trees,
Commas cutting the summer sky
Noise interrups the verbs
A subordinate clause broke its legs
White space expands a page
Fuzzy dashes spatter syntax.
What the hell does all this mean?
3680.
Tall tales of Tradegies:
Good unrewarded and justice denied.
Evil wins and injustice thrives.
No happy ending, a sobering sigh.
And, in the end, everyone dies.
3681.
sharp barks ring out
the dogs guard the back yard
stiff tails and ears up...
Wilting August heat
Brown leaves curl in the sun
3682.
The heavy Gates of Night unclose
As I walk the streets at dawn.
July ignites a vast Cauldron of Light.
Squirrels scamper across shadowless asphalt.
My hammer toe hurts again.
3683.
Steady Spring drizzle
Soaks roofing shingles
Moss drinks droplets
Gutter bleed trickles
Sidewals shimmer slicker.
Bundled Up:
Quintains, Tankas, Pentastichs, and Onions
Original Quintain Poetry By Mike Garofalo
Bundled Up, Volume 1
Quintain Poems 1 - 1,000
Bundled Up, Volume 2
Quintain Poems 1,000 - 1,500
Bundled Up, Volume 3
Quintain Poems 1,500 - 2,000
Bundled Up, Volume 4
Quintain Poems 2,000 - 2,500
Bundled Up, Volume 5
Quintain Poems 2,500 - 3,000
Bundled Up, Volume 6
Quintain Poems 3,000 - 3,500
Bundled Up, Volume 7
Quintain Poems 3,600 - 4,000
Bundled Up, Volume 8
Variety of Poems 4,000 - 4,500
Chen 18 Taijiquan Short Form of Grandmaster Chen Zenglei
18 Movements Short Form
Notes by Michael P. Garofalo, Vancouver, Washington, 2024
Chen Taijiquan Short 18 Form of Grandmaster Chen Zenglei
Webpage by Michael P. Garofalo
Bibliography, links, resources, notes, quotes, videos, lists, photos, comments.
Chen's Taichi for Health and Wellness By Grandmaster Chen Zenglei. White Bench Publications, Toronto, Canada, 2010, 94 pages. Warmup exercises, and detailed instructions with some photographs for the Chen 18 Short Form. Jack Yan is a collaborator I like this book quite a bit. $24.00 in 2/2021. VSCL.
Chen Style Taijiquan Short 18 Form Performance by Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei UTube, color, 3:38 Minutes, 2007.
The Chen Style Taijiquan for Life Enhancement. Written by Chen Zhenglei and translated by Xu Hailing. Zhongzhou Classic Publishing House, Zhengzhou, China, 2002. Text in English and Chinese. ISBN: 7534821819. 149 pages. "Describes the principles of Chen style for life enhancement, basic training, Taiji Skills for Preserving Energy and the 18 Forms of the Chen Style. Many photos of Chen Zhenglei doing Exercises and forms. Chen Zhenglei is one of the top Chen stylists in China. Paperback, 149 pages, 5 1/2' by 8'. - Wayfarer Publications "It covers the content of the health exercise silk reeling video, and is a useful reference, giving more detail, especially on theory." This is a very expensive out of print book, not worth $150.00. I purchased back in 2004 for $25.00. VSCL.
Essence of Traditional Chen Style 18 Posture Short Form. Instructional DVD by Shifu Jiang Jian-ye. Color, 87 Minutes. Capital District Tai Chi and Kung Fu Association of New York, 1997. "Cheng Zheng Lei (the 19th generation of the Chen Family) created this form from the old style of Chen first and second routines. It includes "silk reeling," fa jin (releasing energy), and balance. This short form is a good introduction for beginners or for those with little Chen style experience." "A good introductory Chen form that includes silk reeling and fajing movements as well as other characteristics of the Chen first and second routines. Chen Zhenglei, one of today's top Chen stylists, created the form.There is a demonstration of the entire form followed by step-by-step teaching in slow motion with 2-4 views, from the front, back and side. There are front and back demonstrations of each segment (5 to 7 moves each.) At the end of the teaching there are demonstrations, front and back. There are also excerpts from other Chen forms." - Wayfarer Publications. CDTKA. VSCL. I use a Cboy V-Zon portable DVD player and this DVD works fine because of the way it is organized.
Chen Style Taijiquan
Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei's Short 18 Movements Tai Chi Hand Form, 2001
List of 18 Movements
1. Beginning Posture of Taiji (Taiji Chu Shi)
2. Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds the Mortar (Jin Gang Dao Dui)
3. Lazily Tying One's Coat (Lan Zha Yi)
4. Six Sealing and Four Closing (Liu Feng Si Bi)
5. Single Whip (Dan Bian)
6. White Crane Spreads Its Wings (Bai E Liang Chi)
7. Walk Diagonally (Xie Xing)
8. Brush Knee (Lou Xi)
9. Stepping to Both Sides (Ao Bu)
10. Cover Hands and Strike with Fist (Yan Shou Gong Quan)
11. High Pat on the Horse (Gao Tan Ma)
12. Kick with the Left Heel (Zuo Deng Yi Gen)
13. Jade Maiden Working Her Loom (Yu Nu Chuan Suo)
14. Cloud Hands (Yun Shou)
15. Turn Body with Double Lotus Kick (Zhuan Shen Shuang Bai Lian)
16. Cannon Fist Over the Head (Dan Tou Pao)
17. Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds the Mortar (Jin Gang Dao Dui)
18. Closing Posture of Taiji (Taiji Shou Shi)
Chen Taijiquan Short 18 Form of Grandmaster Chen Zenglei. By Michael P. Garofalo. Bibliography, links, resources, notes, information, lists, practices, quotes.
List of Movements in Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei's Short 18 Form (1 Page, PDF) English Only
3987.
250th Anniversary Fireworks Booming,
American jets screaming by...
Patriotic speeches for tired ears,
Corporate TV selling booze and lies---
I sat under a cloud of disappointment.
3988.
She found her son dead
on the floor beside his bed
with mouth agape and eyes surprised
he a motionless slump of breathless death;
still and cold. A silver crucifix on his neck.
3989.
Time can be squandered, stolen,
wasted, lost.
Time can be invested, used,
divided up, and at a cost.
Time cannot be saved.
3990.
The dull knife of Zen
can't cut, can't slice;
fit for hacking up the weeds
of stifling random thoughts---
understated knots sometime loosening.
3991.
Thigh chest, short breath,
Tired legs, stiff back,
Headache, need rest...
Departing sun, clouds come,
Sitting still --- Hike Done!
3992.
Comets cross clear skies
Fiery streaks flash and fade;
Asteroid showers in the Eastern Night
Remind us of the heavenly strife---
Burning rocks in final flight.
3993.
April comes between March and May,
somewhere in the Spring Season it prayed.
Verbs telling time in a web of words,
e.g., just needed 'ed' for a phoneme, say.
Words love to embrace other words,
sometimes free of any thing anyway.
Nature does not say "April", we do;
Nature shows 'April' in tenuous ways.
To be human is to speak often
of years, seasons,
months, weeks, and days.
3994.
While the El Nino storm so stark and bold
Makes the canvas yurt walls rattle, yet hold;
I wrapped myself in blankets against the cold.
I sipped on coffee, and chewed on cold jerky---
Startled by branches Smacking the roof.
3995.
"And I realize that this
Transcendent architecture
Lost in the forest where no one passes
Is itself the Net of Indra
The compound infinities of infinities,
The Flower Wreath,
Each universe reflecting
Every other, reflecting
Itself from every other
And the moon the single thought
That populates the Void.
The night grows still more still. No
Sound at all, only a flute
Playing soundlessly in the
Circle of dancing Gopis"
- Kenneth Rexroth, On Flower Wreath Hill
3996.
BEWARE: Windy Day
In my backyard
within 70 yards
are swaying slowly...
19 Douglas Firs
100 feet high.
3997.
Time Leaves the Window Behind
Time loosens her sandals in the garden,
she rests among rosemary and rocks.
A breeze turns the pages of the afternoon,
and in each moment the leaves are briefly lifted
before settling back into the long green now.
Time stands on the lawn like statue of steel,
peering through the glass at the lamp’s bright eye.
The rug inside unspools a river of dark thread,
where the chairs are briefly islands in quilts,
and the house is a secret folded into the hours.
3998.
My mouth harp slides on my soft lips.
In breath, out breath, call up a tune:
a sweet, a gentle, a lonesome tune.
My melodies flow, then go,
into the emptiness of pure silence so slow.
3999.
Owl Time
Motionless quiet on a cedar branch.
Severe eyes survey the edges of shadows.
A light fog rolls over the forest floor.
A field mouse scurries by a rotting log---
silent wings slice the bloody night.
4000.
Glued to a cellphone.........
Isolated, alone, eyes on a screen!!
Time lost in a scrolling addiction,
Mesmerized and entrapped---
Curiosity killed Us hypnotized Rats.
Bundled Up:
Quintains, Tankas, Pentastichs, and Onions
Original Quintain Poetry By Mike Garofalo
Bundled Up, Volume 1
Quintain Poems 1 - 1,000
Bundled Up, Volume 2
Quintain Poems 1,000 - 1,500
Bundled Up, Volume 3
Quintain Poems 1,500 - 2,000
Bundled Up, Volume 4
Quintain Poems 2,000 - 2,500
Bundled Up, Volume 5
Quintain Poems 2,500 - 3,000
Bundled Up, Volume 6
Quintain Poems 3,000 - 3,500
Bundled Up, Volume 7
Quintain Poems 3,600 - 4,000
Bundled Up, Volume 8
Quintain Poems 4,000 - 4,500
