Hallway to Nowhere

  • The Awareness of Prufrock (Poem)

    when it happens and it must

    will you sit beside the uncertain moment

    stunned into a concrete pose

    then begin to weep when you find your voice

    and in this childish abandon

    hear the work that you have to do

    again and again until you don’t

    this life short as any so now is the time

    will you turn away in fear and say

    I do not dare I do not

    then grasp the banister tightly

    as you hurry down the staircase

    tripping over coffee spoons oyster shells

    chased by questions of lingering intent

    again the knowledge you have work to do

    or not

    the fog the dusk the narrow streets

    the evening the tea the silent seas

    the snicker and the scuttling claws

    relax relax let go

    no need to return from any death

    be a prophet, a fool, or attendant lord

    hear mermaids sing or drown beneath waves

    all these already yours

    breathe

  • Furnishings (Poem)

    say you are happy

    (you are) enough to do these things

    drape a grin across the chair

    wry to match the Midcentury mod

    be careless with laughter

    so it clumps like dust in every corner

    leave spare joy in the outside lobby

    for anyone who lacks their own

    simcha poretz geder

  • I Heard About The Cat (Poem)

    how long have you been gone

    always

    I have never been here

    or there or anywhere

    poised on the threshold

    of forever

    curiously looking into these rooms

    knowing that for me

    the first step will be lethal

  • Careful Now (Poem)

    I am friendly as a golden dog

    offer stories with a nonchalant hand

    share belongings if I see a need

    but I am watching always

    subtle shifts unnoticed tells

    giveaways in tone and body

    that signify intent

    let the casual take me for naive

    my smile can sharpen into a knife

    if you’re lucky, I’ll just walk away

    before you see the blade

  • Repair Everything Everyday (Poem)

    realize what you’ve lost retrace your steps

    look in doorways loading bays dirty back alleys

    you won’t find missing pieces

    the heart that shatters at every kindness

    the mind that breaks on each piece of art

    the sense of self that becomes so fluid

    you leave it oozing over a rail somewhere

    these are commonplace gimcracks

    you can get used at any cheap store

    in the pages of a thriftstore paperback

    on the screen from an endless telenovela

    you seek what will map you back in place and time

    a smile that shines for every stranger

    that brilliant cut stone set just so above the window

    the crow that sits so still it becomes part of the sign

    gather these and with a laugh

    mix them into yourself then let them go

    walk away whole again but go on to lose more

    repeat and repeat

  • This Morning (Poem)

    the chant of refuge

    the ring of the bell

    the water hitting the cup

    the leaves in the water

    I cannot make tea

    I cannot break silence

    both rest in themselves

    breathe

  • No Surface Ripple (Poem)

    I sit beside myself, an absence waiting

    not to be filled nor emptied

    just there as another way to be

    I watch as I lift a cup

    seeing thoughts drift here and there

    attended to only as the weather

    no distraction from the tea

    fragrant and green with a vegetal edge

    perfect in this moment

  • When It Seems That (Poem)

    nothing can happen nothing can change

    the morning will always be

    the blast of the train before it blocks the road

    and the crows sharpening their gaze

    remember how heavy time hung in the air

    in the hot afternoon of childhood

    moments dripping like limp leaves from the mimosa tree

    disappearing faster than that one cicada brood

    every labored breath took me forward

    every fall a type of momentum

    early lessons that any route leads somewhere

    even for the dead

  • On Reading Li-Young Lee (Poem)

    and when you walk down the street

    that one line so sharp incisive

    piercing your heart your gut the base of your spine

    you leave a bloody trail

    memories blending with viscera in your wake

    you don’t even realize this until you stop

    then cannot reach for the door

    you are missing an arm a leg a rib or two

    but still stand lost in wonder

    the beauty worth the unseen cost

  • Here I Can (Poem)

    walk across a rainbow street

    without looking both ways at once

    for a truck that will speed to hit me

    eat rich garlic ramen

    so spicy that my mouth goes numb

    and I grab for the can of cool jasmine tea

    dress up down shave my head

    black leather vest

    sardonic gaze and confident gait

    go to a club a bookstore a tea house

    any random shop

    welcome without personal regard

    I can just I can just I can just

    be