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Kentucky Wondrous

I am growing bioluminescent pole beans. They are beautiful
at night, girdling the garden trellis, pulsing
neon blue.

Chagall 2018

GPS

Go into my office, the two bookcases when you walk in –
about waist-high – the one on the left – there’s a stack
of black cases – the old Pimsleur language cassettes – see them?
Next to that there should be an opaque gray envelope. Call me
back if you need anything else.

Chagall 2018

Last Day of Carnival

A slow drop of rain
falls heavily on the plain

Heavenly on the pale reflection it puddles
perfect in every way

Falling in time, once again misted
against stems I cling to
twine after twine

Finally carousels slow to the ground
long after everyone is gone
…sleepy heads

While high above outstretched aerialists hover
to wish one another adieu

Chagall 2018

A Trifle

Water from a bough above
falls upon a lower leaf
breaking the absolute
silence of sight and sound
in the garden

Chagall 2018

In the intervals of silence between birdsongs,
certain periods of rest are absolute in their timing,
and on appropriate up or down beats, only particular replies allowed.

Chagall 2018

Baffled By Their Rhythm

I do not impress the Carolina Wren perched on the purple lilac
when in response to her intricate call I whistle Brian May
– the opening attack, Queen’s Stone Cold Crazy

Chagall 2018

Want Ads

Seeker searching for hidden odes,
arbitrary poems, to be moonlit kissed

Chagall 2018

Drain Pipe in Need of Repair

My ear is fooled. What I at first thought was the distant voice
of a poet, is instead the very nearby rumble of
an imminent and reckoning rain.

Chagall 2018

Understated Yet Bewitched

I once saw a bee inside my porch screen
materialize magically on the outside of the mesh.

Astonished, I figured there’s a hole in the material
and I somehow missed his exit via the gap.

But you must trust me – there was no such interruption
in the flow of the tiny crosshatch of the screening.

Not a single horizontal or vertical line broken anywhere.

Chagall 2018

The Break

The day adorns itself with spectacular patches of sunlight
niched in places not quite forgotten.

Away to windows lovers will fly to see starlight
tonight before clouds roll in.

The day turns to a dark powder, a granular graphite that oddly is
breathable and invigorating.  I inhale deeply.

Elsewhere lovers sleep soundly.

Chagall 2018 – rework of an earlier verse