A gnat evades being smashed
by twenty thousand times its mass
yet keeps coming back for more
Flies in and out of nostrils
with carefree abandon
resides in an eyelid or two
The wind from the blow that would destroy
is sufficient to propel it out of harm’s way
Do consider slow stealth assertion of the finger pad
as the more effective means to transition the gnat
a step back home to the dust
© Chagall 2014
Her tears bead crystal
regrets bluer than that time
against black satin
Her sweet talc beguiles
such an exquisite long neck
a place of somber dimples
I shall bathe in the pool
at the nape of her life
an azure puddle of warm rain
Hear that?
That’s the sound I make
when thrashing and drowning’s
not merely a state of mind
Her strong hand
in the deepest end
continues to hold me under
© Chagall 2014
Elaborate schemes scrolled ornately
elegant passages etched
in a world at a time when no one wanted
more than any one
perhaps it’s vertigo
settled in
allow me my Hitchcock moment
God, I’m on the hour-hand
of the bell tower clock
again
and I promised myself
that this chance would not be
wasted
and so I jumped
with so much confetti about
I have no sense of falling
uniquely six-sided we are
crystalline in nature
curious to find
identical snowflakes
yet there you are
I’m
so
sorry
I
melted
© Chagall 2014
In a deluge rather than a rain
my soul absorbs
I burgeon
burst into wet prisms
scald myself
on low-flung lightning
I soak it up
accumulate all the water
to become the source
and ultimate authority
for the next wrathful downpour
I will flood
incessantly
until we are
restored
© Chagall 2014
I raise my arm,
again and again
and then I raise it
a third time
From whence
does
that
signal
flow?
I seek out
the Commander
the one who barks
the order
and find her easily
nearby at the helm
yelling Raise It!
But what happens next
I can’t discern
the work of that motor
eludes me
I assume a small band
of gypsy synapse
lights up and plays jazz
’round the fires
of my heart
and I raise my arm
on the prominent
upbeat
So much of life
is mindless I
in surrender to
the Mindful
© Chagall 2014
Alphabet City 