It Stopped Being January
I was tired and you
were tired and wind
blew blessings we could not
yet read I read myself
to sleep in the dim
hours beyond sunset
in which coastal meant time
to coast near frost to breathe
the slimmer feeling once
reeling from shoulder-
length amendments to
detachment remanded to
weather whether or not
gilded to fictitious summer
from Ghazals (2023-2024)
120/
Threadbare youth remain precious future hires.
Virtuoso early spring of woodwinds.
Lessons typically run in threes: first
advertise what is (to come), teach, review.
Beaver Reintroduction Efforts chime
through the tiny city eager to grow.
My life has been one long Lenten season.
Tenderloin, Broadway show and neighborhood.
I sing the song "Gary, Indiana"
for the player "Andy Isabella."
from Ghazals (2023-2024)
123/
With little else to do, homophones sleep
together between stacks smelling of must.
Crustaceans arrive on plates and hold still
while conversation veers across them.
Laces of shopworn shoes will not tie.
Glass may preserve better antiquities.
Winter functions as a renewable
part of life covered in cold protection.
The seasoned woman rehearses being
born anew with limber limbs and laughter.
from Ghazals (2023-2024)
124/
What kind of demiurge should be assigned
to unlace winter from incipience?
A zither left to me extracted breath
from listeners when I began to play.
A cafe called New Daylight housed a spy.
She brought her lunch guest a lavender rose.
Rescue gilds old fear irresponsibly.
A hapless audience can be taught peace.
We saw Saturn through the intricate scope
only its maker was allowed to touch.
from Ghazals (2023-2024)
125/
Distal affection subtracts pretended
lure of the ubiquitous quiet man.
When morning lifts from ritual winter
we Penelopize our chores to stay free.
Matriculation found in four-four time
in search of mahogany metronome.
Pacing oneself differs from outpacing
a competitor disguising a crush.
On Valentine's Day you were still conscious.
The one rose we had, bereft of fragrance.
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