Checkin' things out by the river.
hold all that floats
in common
said the river
water cannot begin undo
what you
hadst left
undone
I follow as you
follow
said the moon
duplicity
a thousand minute hands
bells tolls ticks clocks
alarms can neither slow
or quicken sting
or thought
of hapless mind
said time
come rest here
in
my arms
To you,
they are black t-shirts.
Who could ever need so many?
To me they are:
late on Monday and
first-time client and
ignore this bad hair day and
celebrate because day and
casual day and
not my birthday and
the bosses birthday and
bring your daughter to work day and
not every day and
no daycare today and
last weekend and
lost weekends and
just back from Mardi Gras and
family vacation and
in need of time off day and
the middle of Wednesday and
work-in-a-workout and
in-between seasons and should maybe have
just called in sick day and
hooray for the team day and
it’s raining again day and
we can pretend, but it’s still
not quite payday and if
time, being time,
forget this kiss,
then yes.
On that day, they will seem
like a stack of black t-shirts,
plus one.
Who could ever need so many?
Patrons sift through
newspapers. Open
today’s mail. Try to ignore
the sportscast vs.
muffled oldies
competition.
One pair wanders,
drawn toward pop
machine. Then vending.
Father buys peanut butter,
Orange Crush. Son gets
chocolate chip, Mt. Dew and
replica
of father’s chin.
Startled goose
calls out
from son’s
back pocket. The ride’s
here.
Repair-shop window
watches. Blinks.
Thinks this
could
be a postcard.