24 April 2010


1252
She met him as one might
A stranger meet through time
By continents parted
In the same room, propinquity
To ease inversely proportioned.
By itself devoured
The future is no sustenance;
Twixt now and next
And thought and act
Is where we reside,
And our pasts little weigh,
Would we know it,
Or she, or him.

20 April 2010


1249
In the subduing dark
The petals are ghosts of another hour--
Sunlight silk within
Casting shadows of day
In the larger depth.
Solicitude is the hue
Of these things at night
Pink flowers turning blue
In this sad companion's sight.
.
In the subsuming dark
The cherry is a ghost without,
To sensual brief
A suited partner.

12 April 2010


1242
Gilgamesh
Don't ride the bike today
Don't ride for Death
He has shaped this thing
To his purpose.
And Gilgamesh opened his mouth
To his thought gave form
I have no purpose
No purpose but to live
To ride is my purpose.

[in memory of John Gardner]

07 April 2010


1238
It's curious as time the night air
As language across
Lip and brow
Touch then gone--
A place but not a place,
A face made soft by air
In no space of time.

04 April 2010


1235
Surrender what is held you secret self--
What weight's identity
Without your small purview?
You atrium bird skyless shot-winged,
Lighter air's beyond the glass,
Though of the self-same stuff.