Last night, across
a dusty street corner
I reach
a junk shop—
the sort whose racks & shelves of
old tools & metal signs
are dragged daily outside—
& eventually
realize
I’m perusing Lou Harrison’s bookshelf.
The owner
walks up
& explains he’d once
been hired
to clear out Lou’s home
In the middle of one side
of the shelf
there’s a staircase
which I follow
up & into
a modest
concert hall mezzanine
inside the house
I find myself casually
in the presence
of Lou’s friends
who seem not to know he has died
—perhaps, an earlier time, before
he’d gone
September 14, 2021
Hoping It Was Thunder
I was hoping it was thunder I was hearing
& soft joy when I was certain
& then a few assuring flashes signal
more to come
Sudden recollection
as of a voice that was forgotten
or the morning’s dove cooing from Maryland
Could it have been years since I noticed this?
Night
pattering on the gutters
& trees & roof
& even the steady drip through the ceiling
onto two attic steps
makes me want to be silent
To give all the space
to low rumblings
March 18, 2021
Adorenment
Spinning on the heels
of your replacement funny flats,
you float free of the floor
& the long front desk,
where keyboards & telephones wait
for fingers & voice
they do not deserve
to know, or to have
your time
Or to feel
the click of your ring
& turquoise
earrings, dangling
But what
or who does?
I do not know.
I see you,
alone
in your own rugged elegance,
unjustly tethered
to the rest of us
April 18, 2022
No Wonder
It is no wonder
no spirit
& no magic
are alive
In a house
without cracks
in the floors or folds
in old
upholstery
(for it)
to hide in- side
March 17, 2021
Half ‘Cross The Bridge
Half ‘cross the bridge
over swampy Totopotomoy Creek,
a place we’ve never been or heard of
but come to
driving aimlessly
Now singing
Luke Kelly’s Raglan Road
half ‘cross the bridge
August & I, running, laughing
after chatting with a Scottish man
& his dog who’d come
from the opposite end of the trail
Incidentally, a Robert
Incidentally, a fiddler
whose wife called
at just the same moment as Kate
March 15, 2021
Reading Over Your Shoulder The Whole Time
After one
solitary yester-
day of observation
this one
is filled with communion
Mostly unexpected, but
none more so
than when on the metro
as I star the corner
of a page of poetry
the guy
sitting next to me
says: wait,
you like that one
July 9, 2021
Transplant
One green wrap
on near-black
backdrop,
twisted
around a barren branch
& another strand
outstretched & swaying,
just an inch
(or two) away
from a second
leafless limb
Watering the mimosa tree,
recovering in the evening
June 8, 2021
The Upstairs
The upstairs
has grown dark
since we left it this morning
We climb,
stair by stair,
into a feeling & the sound
of the radio
still playing Christmas music
December 4, 2020
First Blossoms
It’s late winter or early spring
One of these drizzling misty midday walks
where the colors shine
saturated, under gray skies
& auto exhaust hangs in the air
& the first blossoms lay scattered neatly
around the bases of eager trees—
Orange-browns, auburn-reds,
skirts of near-translucent
yellow-green
& more than usual
the traffic sounds
like an oceanshore
At times needing
to breathe sparingly,
waiting for fumes to dissipate
Taking detours
around wide puddles
While the songs of sparrows
flood the air above the alleyways
March 18, 2021
Pale Imitations
Here
I am,
here,
casting
my
piggyswill
before
the wisened
September 30, 2021
While You Nap
I am sitting still
All around leaves shift
nearer, further
Breeze spins the dappled light
dancing
over & around us
I am hungry
My eyes are open
The world ’s dreams turn,
entrained
July 13, 2021
Our Practice
Don’t need to avert
our eyes, you & I have
a different sight
a special practice—
Of Seeing
what is radiant
&& troubled (in the world);
what is both bleak
&& vital
We, together
don't be down-weighed,
not dull & sullen
These days, I’ve treasured
a feeling in my gut
—like hunger
Don’t want to lose this difference;
keep cultivating
Our Difference
It’s not what is (or how it’s) served up—
It is the bravery;
It’s the not recoiling.
Look—there is something stirring!,
shimmering
in All of it! We know
how to look
March 20, 2023
This Is What I Want
I see your face
while you’re away today
& Mary Margaret O’Hara warbles
this is what I want
Life in the picture
of your evening
—Your smile,
your stamping yellow
rain boots on the sidewalk
April 10, 2021
Whisper Wish
This
whisper wish
falls short, as when
my singing voice
or violin
melody unfolds, almost
Almost
like music
to your ears
January 10, 2017
Too Lonely For A Mansion
It could not be congenial—
even with some
magic windfall—