Alphabet City

If you want to understand how an American
standard composer wanted their song to be sung,
listen to Ella Fitzgerald’s first take
on any verse and chorus – absolutely true to the score –
after that, look out!

Chagall 2019

Barefoot in the kitchen, cleaning out my junk drawer,
when the sharp scissors fall straight down, through
my foot to the floor, pinning me – saving me from
the caving ceiling right over the spot
where I was to be

Chagall 2019

Last week I dug a walipini,
an indigenous underground greenhouse,
and as luck would have it
I hit a large stone that
went on forever – turns out
it’s a North American megalith
built over a million years ago –
so now, instead of having plenty
of veggies and beautiful flowers,
I’ve got a queue in the yard –
tourists buying tickets!

Chagall 2019

I’ve just had my glasses re-rosied.

Chagall 2019

When I touch the sun
will I radiate – or
go bonkers supernova?

Chagall 2019

Falling through the immeasurable heaven,
the value of life is not bounded by
its lifetime, no inhale untethered
to the wind, never a star so grand
to survive the burn of time.

So many lights that streak and wink
in the cold space all around me.

My neck creaks as I crane my head
way back, my field of vision
parallel to the axis of all creation.

This would be easier lying down,
my back upon earth, strapped in,
ready for takeoff.

All systems go.

Chagall 2019

I remember vividly where I was and what I was listening to
on the day the Internet died: the 100th anniversary of
the Bill Evans Trio, Sunday at the Village Vanguard,
recorded live in 1961.

Chagall 2019

I realize now what I thought too sentimental
is exactly what I’m seeking.

Chagall 2019

Every now and then,
without trying – subtle,
the voice that speaks no words,
a face I cannot discern – so small
in the eye of my mind, says
this moment is holy as any other

Chagall 2019

Trim each letter, word, rhyme,
tear them all apart,
until they form
– approximate –
the shape of
a human
heart

Chagall 2019