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She is of this moment.
The pulse in her wrist
whispers as she watches
the window sheer
give life, then retreat,
while the breeze outside
passes by, sensing
that, inside her empty room,
there is little need for air,
only a single chair
to sit and count the days.
They arrive unannounced,
soft-footed as a child,
slipping through the doorway
of a quiet mind.
Some glow like lanterns-
warm and steady,
held in the palms of our hands
as if time itself were something
we could hold and keep.
Others are windblown-
a scent of pine, a porch board creaking,
a voice we almost recognize before it fades
back into the quiet shadows.
There are the heavy ones, too,
the ones we carry in the deeper pockets-
I walked through a metal detector
Every morning, Monday through Friday.
I had to put my bag through an x-ray
And have my person wanded.
It felt like I had four years probation.
It was normal to me. How baffled was i
When i realized it wasn’t normal to everyone
At that age.
In the rooms there were no windows.
Just a big one that wrapped around the hallway
adrift in a sea of grieving desires
my vernal mind glows in endless fires -
pages of old yearnings softly weave
the subtle echoes of my fading belief -
the silky breeze by the twilight skies
breathes in me, rhymes with my cries,
it rests my soul in the quiet night
through veils of silver fading light -
it glides above swift hissing streams
that evoke my deep, hidden dreams -
The ground must not shake beneath you,
Hold fast to the struts and pull the harness to your shoulders.
Have you not heard of Atlas and his portion — his yoke?
Chin up — you worm!
All that's been planted in you,
You would give up to the ground?
To the maggots?
The stardust that collected to form your iris You won't cherish?
The ether that transformed within you into a soul
You would give to Saul?
To the hounds, to do with it as they please?
Why did you take that, which was not yours? Why did you lie to me and tell me you loved me and leave me hungry and alone waiting up at night for you to return home.
When you finally arrived you were intoxicated angry and not at all The person that I know, You did not care if I was hungry , scared and alone.
You were never there when I needed you so despondent and far away. While I weep with the angels to carrie the cross, count me among the sinners, and bury me with the lost.
"breast-pocket"
At a small table, an older woman
draws a bamboo toothpick from the breast‑pocket
of her frock, works with practiced care,
wipes it clean with a sheet from her thigh pocket,
then slips it back as the talk continues.
___
Little kids playing in the yard together with hearts full of dreams and big ideas.
But there's no food in the house , or even a cupboard to put the food in. Mom's in the back seat of a car with a jon while dad's doing twenty to life in the pin, the electric's off and these politicians are making promises again.
As the children grew older their desperation did too, some gave their life to heroin.Some live by the gun and some are walking around dead inside, though ,Their bodies live on .
Every night, as the moon rose, a woman's song pierced the dark, Full of joy and pain, joined together, softly, not stark.
The people in town were confused by her melody,
" Is she hurting?"
" Is she happy?"
"Why does it so affect me?"
Someone claimed she sang, for a lost love that was sleeping. She sits, still in her window, with only her hands wringing.
But, her song was not mournful, for folks declared, from their view,
"It fills me with longing unfullfilled."
"It moves me to embrace my lover."
I stumbled over rocks trying to keep pace with the train, her pale hand slipping from mine.
Her nightgowned streamed towards me in the wind and her silver hair folded over us until it felt as though the world had vanished and only she remained.
"I can't go in there without a gift." she said.
Her eyes met mine. Cold and blue and cold as ice as a winter storm swept over my chest.
Her beauty like the moon consumed me like a heavenly eclipse.
A helpless sob choked at the back of my throat as her hand slipped away even further.
I squeezed her hand,