Alphabet City

I am sailing now for many days,
perhaps weeks, maybe years,
a slow bob onward to the light,
small there, unchanging in the darkness,
very far away

The calls of nightbirds
close in the surround of
the low sky

A warm breeze though, there is no chill
to thwart my hope

Once upon a calm sea a large moon rose and
filled the black hollow with golden gray

The sound of the waves there
against the rocks, without an ear in sight
to hear, haunts me everyday

Back to the light
turned around
soft spikes of sunspots sparkle
peonies of fireworks
explode without sound

Back to the light
within

Chagall 2019

if we were land-locked on all sides,
with green, red, yellow, brown, tan, and beige folks
bubbling into the pot, each from their respective border,
via all modes of carriage, overrunning our systems, our securities,
and we as natives – those already here, the green, red, yellow, brown,
tan and beige among us – have the inclination to protest and seek greater
controls, would we be racists and any less humanitarian?

CHagall 2019

a damselfly at the feeder
dreams she’s a hummingbird

Chagall 2019

bluejay
windowpane
suicide

Chagall 2019

Arrogantly she asked if I was awoke.
I said no, still sleeping and blissfully dreaming, thank you.

Chagall 2019

I am overcome by how fragile loved ones are,
often frantic for their safety and happiness,
such that I cannot breathe

Chagall 2019

inner worlds
intertwine
sometimes yours
now never mine
since the gap is gone

in the face of nothing
all is plain

as a leaf is stirred by breezes
weighed down by droplets of rain
so is the drag of time
mild perturbations

as multisyllabic as we care to be
or not depending on the count of breath
is more than one can say

thank you for worlds topsy-turvy
she smiles at me from the skylight
adorned by cloudy skies
backlit golden stray haloes
she appears for a moment
to float airily up

with her
within her
in unity

one heart
one self

Chagall 2019

a mouthful of
jelly roll

marbles, marmalade,
namesake and circumstance

old pictures on film newly faded,
everything turns heather these days

it is violet
most clearly

stark among
sepia

more sound
than sight

Chagall 2019

the butterfly maintains a steady vee under his partner
despite the erratic path of their dance, always urging upward
into light, higher aerie, eventually ceding at the top of the flight,
agreeing to be chased

Chagall 2019

Happenstance and sometimes chance,
causes to gaze away

Quietly, nary a pebble rolls

Hot sidewalk in summer New York,
bless me o’ johnny pump

Long ago high risers of water cool
cascaded down upon me

Now I search for shade

Clear spirits and
tonic and lime can cure

Please let me run
the long line of your body

Tonight will fail to be timeless
without the knowing of you

Join me one time, just trust

There is no need
for any tomorrow

The day after…

Chagall 2019