"poor world" by Idea Vilariño

My translation from the spanish of Idea Vilariño's "pobre mundo/poor world" which she wrote back in 1962 but sounds like it was written yesterday. Out now in the new Denver Quarterly!

 

3 poems in Gorko Gazette!

Three poems of mine are up now at GORKO GAZETTE!

 
before the moon
the dance of entropy
time arrow

https://thegorkogazette.com/2026/03/27/before-the-moon-and-2-more-by-john-yohe/
 

 

long thin skirt

My poem 'long thin skirt' now up at HST:

https://horrorsleazetrash.com/2026/02/22/john-yohe-20/

 

Lyme Ideology

My poem "Lyme Ideology" just went up at Apocalypse Confidential!

https://apocalypse-confidential.com/2026/02/20/lyme-ideology/

Picture of Plum Island: 

 

emotional intimacy

I keep slipping poems by the folks at HST! Here's my latest, "emotional intimacy."

 

Hand On Thigh

My poem "hand on thigh" now up at HST!

https://horrorsleazetrash.com/2026/01/08/john-yohe-18/

 

 

fire poem

My "fire poem" is now up in the new issue of SMALL ORANGE!

 

sagittarius

A little fun #poem of mine up at HST today, "sagittarius." [note: the HST header is NSFW]

https://horrorsleazetrash.com/2025/11/25/john-yohe-17/

 

 

Beethoven over Douglas Pass

"Beethoven over Douglas Pass" my poem out now in JEFFERSON JOURNAL. May/June 2025, page 46, the print journal of ijpr.org

 

https://www.ijpr.org/jefferson-journal

 

I made a nightmare

My poem "I made a nightmare" now up at A THIN SLICE OF ANXIETY!

 

Ink Musik

My new chapbook, Ink Musik, is now out!

 

Alfonsina Storni

My translations of four Alfonsina Storni poems now up at ITERANT! Spanish and english versions, with audio.

 

https://iterant.org/issue15/alfonsina-storni/

solidarność

My poem "solidarność" now out in RABBLE REVIEW no. 8. Winter 2025. Buy (or download for free) the whole issue here. [Note: I'm not sure Rabble is even around still, no website anymore]. I would just download this for free, by putting in 0/zero for the the fair payment. I don't know....sorry.

 

Mr. Brown

My poem "Mr. Brown" now up at HIGH HORSE JOURNAL!

 

Miss Rotinski—poem at Porcupine Lit

My poem "Miss Rotinski" now up at Porcupine Literary!

 

https://www.porcupineliterary.com/post/miss-rotinski

Two poems in The Chiron Review

Two of my poems in The Chiron Review #134 Fall 2024! It's a print journal. You can order it here:

Las Chicas Malas

My poem "Las Chicas Malas" is now out in the new issue of Counter Clock!

 

Manuel Vilas translation at ITERANT

My translations of three Manuel Vilas poems are now out in the ITERANT #14, Illiterate Moon.

Soon to be online too, I think, but order the print edition here:
https://iterant.org/product/iterant-issue-14/

 

3 poems at ATSOA

Three of my poems now up at A THIN SLICE OF ANXIETY!

Get Drunk! by Charles Baudelaire

My translation of Baudelaire's famous poem, "Get Drunk!". I would hand this out on the last day of class to my students, and read it to them the original french too, which they seemed to really like.

 

Get Drunk!

One should always be drunk. That's all that matters;

that's our one imperative need. So as not to feel Time's

horrible burden, one which breaks your shoulders and bows

you down, you must get drunk without stopping.

But with what?

With wine, poetry, or virtue

as you choose.

But get drunk.

And if, at some time, on the steps of a palace,

in the green grass of a ditch,

in the bleak solitude of your room,

you are waking and the drunkenness has already abated,

ask the wind, the waves, the stars, the clock,

all that which flees,

all that which groans,

all that which rolls,

all that which sings,

all that which speaks,

ask them what time it is

and the wind, the wave, the stars, the birds, and the clock,

they will all reply:

"It is time to get drunk!

So that you may not be the martyred slaves of Time,

get drunk, get drunk,

and never pause to rest!

With wine, poetry, or virtue,

as you choose!”

by Charles Baudelaire (tr. John Yohe)

 

 

Enivrez-vous!

 

Il faut être toujours ivre, tout est là ; c'est l'unique question. 

Pour ne pas sentir l'horrible fardeau 

du temps qui brise vos épaules et vous penche vers la terre, 

il faut vous enivrer sans trêve.

 

Mais de quoi? De vin, de poésie, ou de vertu à votre guise, mais enivrez-vous!

 

Et si quelquefois, sur les marches d’un palais, 

sur l’herbe verte d’un fossé, 

dans la solitude morne de votre chambre, 

vous vous réveillez, 

l’ivresse déjà diminuée ou disparue, 

demandez au vent, à la vague, à l’étoile, à l’oiseau, à l’horloge, 

à tout ce qui fuit, 

à tout ce qui gémit, 

à tout ce qui roule, à tout ce qui chante, 

à tout ce qui parle, 

demandez quelle heure il est ; 

et le vent, la vague, l’étoile, l’oiseau, l’horloge, vous répondront : 

 

« Il est l’heure de s’enivrer ! 

 

Pour n’être pas les esclaves martyrisés du Temps, 

enivrez-vous ; 

enivrez-vous sans cesse ! 

De vin, de poésie ou de vertu, à votre guise. »

 —Charles Baudelaire