Payack's epigrammatic micro poems have appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Amazing Science Fiction, Reader's Digest and The Wall Street Journal. Below are a few!
TO GRANDMA
Sooner or later
every poet
writes a poem
about his grandmother.
Not me.
I never
wrote a poem
about my grandmother.
THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT
An irresistible force
meets an unmovable object.
No pleasantries are exchanged.
ANTI-DARWINISM
Survival
of the Nitwittiest.
Excessive Expressive
I was going to write a one line poem
But now I’ve gone too far.
LITERARY CRITICISM #l
Every buddy's a critic today
And that includes
My four year old son Mike.
When giving him
A most detailed explanation
To a most simple question
He listens,
Thinks it over,
And then replies:
"Is that for real, Peter, or is that just one
of your crazy poems?"
The Empirical Express
The train
of thought chugs
slowly into the station.
The station is deserted.
Everyone has a car,
today
ANTI-DARWINISM
Survival of the nitwittiest.
COMPUTER VISION
Binary spots before your eyes.
THE VISIONARY COSMOGRAPHER
Surveying the celestial spaces
With the aid of a kaleidoscope
TIME
The zen of when
RELATIVE RIGHT
Two wrongs don’t make a right,
But three lefts do.
ARCHEOLOGICAL TRUTHS
Seeking light in dark places.
ZIP CODES
Instant ethics
TRUE LUST
My hormones
are in love with your hormones.
MICROCOSMOS
Star-gazing through the wrong end of the telescope.
GOOGOL GOGGLES
Spectacles for spectacular numbers.
THE ETERNAL OPTIMIST
Still waiting for the Comet Kohoutek.
THE AMERICAN WAY
Dash for cash
14,OOO,OO2,007
The way I figure it,
from what I read in
my astronomy books,
The year is 14,000,002,007.
They just shorten it
to make it easier
to sign your checks.
RELATIVE RIGHT
Two wrongs
don't make a right,
but three lefts do.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
I bought my first car at 17.
DEJA BOO
Remembrance of Halloweens Past.
INFINITY
********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************, et cetera.
THE WAY OF THE RAPPER
Survive by jive
INTERSTELLAR DUST
Raison d’etre for the Vacuum of space.
MOTION DENIED
Why does inanimate object?
PERFECT MARRIAGE
An archeologist & a grave digger.
BAT
A cigar butt takes wing.
TEXAS
This sentence is the universe, with the words galaxies, the letters stellar systems,
The commas quasars, and the period a lone star, (TEXAS).
ANTIMATTER
Groundless speculation
QUANTUM COUPLET
The sex life of a quark,
At best, a momentary spark!
RELATIVE FREEDOM
Water in the sink
Excapes down the drain.
RECEDING GALAXIES
The Universe shows its age.