Category: Poetry

January 18, 2026

“The neighbours” – My latest poem, also translated into Catalan

The neighboursLike shortchanged construction workersThe neighbours shout down onto their kidsMost of the dayThe older boy(His name is Jonay, which rhymes with cry, and he does a lot)Well, he shouts back these days, heaving and aggrieved Then bellows at his brother Who is 3 or 4 years oldAnd he makes the noises of a dog…
November 10, 2025

Fact

Please don’t ask me about my abuse. I wasn’t really there.
October 24, 2025

Untitled mixed

a cowboy crowd camehuge under loud confetti tunespainted horses in everyones glanceglued to street prance frownsa story played with floating balloon chanceinside a rolled parade
October 11, 2025

“The pine tree of Formentor:” more than a nature poem

Translation from Catalan of Miquel Costa i Llobera’s “El pi de Formentor” by Brett Hetherington and Antoni Cardona The pine tree of Formentor Miquel Costa i Llobera (1875)My heart loves a tree! Older than the olive tree,more powerful than the oak, greener than the orange tree,holding onto eternal spring in its leaves,and fighting against the…
July 21, 2025

How to read this poem

Please make sure you are:Sitting in a little child’s wooden classroom chairReading this with someone else’s glassesPiling information blocks on top of each otherStopping, starting, stopping, startingJust as importantly, make sure you are:Watering heavily in both eyesEmploying the great deftness of AI to understand the meaning of these linesUniting with the community, in a fashionWhile…
June 21, 2025

“Night duty:” A prize-winning poem by Antoni Cardona, translated from Catalan

[Recording here.] The poem “Guàrdia de nit” was awarded the Màrius Torres Award 2025 by the Council of Medical Associations of Catalonia Translation of Guàrdia de nit, by Brett Hetherington and Antoni Cardona [Inspired by Joan Salvat-Papasseit’s (1894-1924) “Nocturn per a acordió”]You are here: I did emergency night duty.You don’t know what it is to…
June 8, 2025

Two Scavengers in a Truck (with new Catalan translation)

[A poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti] At the stoplight waiting for the lightnine a.m. downtown San Franciscoa bright yellow garbage truckwith two garbagemen in red plastic blazersstanding on the back stoopone on each side hanging onand looking down intoan elegant open Mercedeswith an elegant couple in itThe manin a hip three-piece linen suitwith shoulder-length blond hair…
May 9, 2025

“Why We Are Girls” (Rose Hunter’s poem in Catalan and English)

The fine Australian poet and writer Rose Hunter first had this poem published in Event magazine then here at VerseDaily. It was translated by Antoni Cardona and I in April-May 2025. Why We Are Girls —(Or ladies, sometimes, but everyone knows that’s a bit funny) A girl is a wisp, a potato chip barely there,…
May 4, 2025

“Sunrise from the south” (a new poem with Catalan translation)

Behind the treesAway from the darkIn just one little cornerA patch of childhood blue skyBut each time I looked up from my tea and cakeIn only seconds travelling west fast It accosted meEven shamed meUntil the pale patch in mere minutesHad migrated into a couple of fluffed bars low Down on the horizon madeBy the…
April 14, 2025

“Teachers”

Leonard Cohen’s song lyrics translated into Catalan by Antoni Cardona and Brett Hetherington (2025) TEACHERSby Leonard CohenI met a woman long agoher hair the black that black can go,Are you a teacher of the heart?Soft she answered no.I met a girl across the sea,her hair the gold that gold can be,Are you a teacher of…