Now that it's November -

From the Bridge

I come here in every weather to see if it feels different.
I come here to feel the vibrations of scattered birds
landing around my feet, taking flight through my hair.
The slow water gives me exactly what I need -
blurred reflections of the very same day -
comfort blanket miles away to a sleepy sea.
I know I'm boxed in, often underground, breathing heat,
but here I become a much tinier me -
one with fewer words for it all,
one with eyes for it all, and teeth,
but a me without much else to speak of.

The shock of it all.

Throughout our lives we are taugh what to value,
but how can it be that after all these years
all it takes is standing on a bridge
looking beyond ourselves,
learning where the edge is,
to shake and to shake any sense that remains?
All I can do, watching the water crawl beneath,
is wait for an outer shudder
to warm myself awake once more.




The Letters of Words / The Words of Letters

You always had my address,
it topped every letter I ever sent
and each one I never sent,
and now that I'm spent with writing it down,
tired of all this pressing on my crown,
it's dawning that there aren't the words for half the things I ever meant.




Accidental Orchard

If you catch yourself eating the whole apple, cyanide seeds and all,
don't be one bit afraid of the orchard that might start to grow in your belly,
or the fruit that someday will fall.
Resting by day, flourishing to bloom during the night;
playing Grandmother's Footsteps with the pull of the moon,
it'll sprout in rhythm with your sleep.
It will finally come to fruition at the moment you change beat -
after a pause for photosynthesis -
when dry eyes and sunlight dare to meet.




When You Disappeared Behind My Eyes

The night when the power diffused and you couldn't wake up,
I dreamed of you, fully clothed, no white sheets,
all put back together, tubeless between the teeth.
You were walking away from me
and your back never looked so defiant.
You couldn't turn or wouldn't turn around to see what you were doing to me,
because wherever it was you were heading was illuminated
with needing you more than I did.
You continued walking but it was never certain whether you ever arrived
and that's why your sister and your wife were still waiting for you at the hospital,
watching for a flicker of light from behind your eyes.