Five musical tones
found Wednesday in Vienna
could be the lost chord!
© Carlos Chagall, 2013
Archive for July, 2013
Light touch fingertips
dance, our hands ballerinas
mirror palms – encore!
Twenty fingertips
grand dancers, corps de ballet
palm to palm – bravo!
© Carlos Chagall, 2013
Universe whispers
tickle ears they’re faraway
words I cannot hear
© Carlos Chagall, 2013
She laughs one last time
I sense she already knows
life’s good at punchlines
© Carlos Chagall, 2013
Morning at the old wood gate
warblers peck for breakfast
excited cheeps for each
spider in the dead bark
of the mailbox post they find
Sweet pea blossoms
like caramel sugar on the hot
steady breeze off the pond
where the fattest cattails grow
Meadow katydids chatter
while fuzzy bees bump and buzz
Ankle-top hoppers pop
alight on bent-grass
sway there asleep at the tips
until sprung again
I chew wild sorrel while I wait
lemon zest on my tongue
glorious as the day is breaking
Wavy heat
off U.S. 9
along the hill
by Neary’s field
That’s the way you’ll come
with your dad
in his old grain truck
Your head out the window
Ike with his Camels
unfiltered and smoky
He tousles my hair
says I’m a fine young man says
you and Elizabeth have fun
Lately he shakes
a marionette
fly-away arms from the palsy
But he holds me steady
with steel-gray eyes
reflecting sky like fender chrome
Says expect him back around supper time
on the return trip home from Granary
One long wave
all the while he leaves
he smiles in his side-view mirror
beeps twice at the turn, and he’s gone.
The road is quiet
except for the sound
of settled dust
and ancient rock compressing
The summer is ours
and ours are days
of endless morning
Together forever
as if in dreams
we vow
To touch
but never to spoil
© Carlos Chagall, 2013
I am resigned to say nothing to you
There is no consultation I will give
No advice from on high on how to live
I’d rather not make a real big to-do
It’s too easy to have a point of view
Be a coach from the bank on how to dive
From flowers buzz about life at the hive
I will not comment or help you sort through
I would die for you though, that much I know
Replace you on death’s list in a heartbeat
Give you the last nickel I own to eat
Donate blood and life and organs to grow
I’ll assure you exceed the finish line
And ask sometimes that you be home at nine
© Carlos Chagall, 2013
You and I
on this road
it’s now
once a lifetime
whenever we cross
arriving in sun
or passing at noon
one night
we left under stars
we remember
the last time together
this is very rare
for two like us
it’s eternal
the glimpse behind
but there’s something quite
different ahead . . .
can you feel it?
quickly!
oh, way too quickly
the road begins to fade
hold me as always then
till we meet again
let this be the kiss
to tide us over
© Carlos Chagall, 2013
overheard this morning
at the Coney Island stop:
“Seriously? The dog is upset
because you didn’t
butter her roll?”
that bitch should know
I sympathize
if it tastes so nice
it should be
buttered twice
you know
how hard it is
to dunk with paws
little dignity nor poise
for those
licking themselves
in public
(what you do
in your own portico
is up to you)
I mean
don’t they know
there’s pekingese starving
siamese up in arms
pitbull up on iTunes
what’s so hard to get?
don’t upset
your pet
© Carlos Chagall, 2013
two people in love
breathless alone
beneath stars’ light
any era anytime
pick a country or a world
have no one speak
but search through kiss
and listen . . .
could be any place
anywhere any age
through time
if there’s anyone
there’s always two
long as life
as long as there were stars
© Carlos Chagall
A dark corridor
the light divides in two banks
shade under the bridge
© Carlos Chagall, 2013
Alphabet City 