cool patterns radiate off the back wall
sunshine screams through the transom
i cringe at the taste of red #4,
but don’t know whether it’s red’s stench
or the bitterness of the number four
across Asia, “4” is an unlucky number —
the number of death —
but for some it tastes like citrus peel
Worn one more time than the number of funerals you attend,
that black suit hangs forgotten — yet dreaded.
It hangs dusty in a closet,
or musty in a bag;
and you’re most listless when it has
a crisp dry cleaning tag.
In good years, it never crosses your path — or your mind.
In bad years, it’s needed repeatedly.
There will be a year in which someone will pull it out for you —
carefully smoothing its lapels —
the year you move beyond bad years.
lead boot sinking,
looking up to halo’d light,
a light that gets smaller & dimmer
as one plunges down through cold waters —
deeper & dimmer;
&
dumber & numb-er;
until there’s nothing left to exhale,
and every urge to fatally inhale
The sunset glowed orange in a wrap of clouds,
looking like the interior of a hollowed tree trunk —
fallen, split open, and with fire burning inside.
The vibrant colors fire my child’s mind —
colors as unsubtle in hue
as the clumsy building blocks were in shape
that I played with as a boy.
2020!
You are the time that tried men’s souls…
not to mention those of:
-women
-children
-the non-binary
-the undecided
and the un-huddled masses,
yearning to be close.
I watch the hawks —
watching me watching them —
and wonder how many of them I don’t see.
They’re better watchers:
-stiller
-more patient
-less swayed by boredom.
They stand, cloaked, as if in judgement —
Chief Justice of this street,
roving eyes in search of
one false move.
They are literal swoopers.
I’ve been accused of “swooping in,”
but I’m — at best — a figurative swooper.
Watch, swoop, catch, repeat…
The trail calls to me,
its grass-fringed part curving gently,
climbing upslope toward the trees,
the forest that hides hints of a future,
denying all hope of knowing what comes next.
