King

The clack clack of stick in the pickets,
Scepter held by boy with curly black hair,
Percussive announcement of self-named king,
Followed by a rag-tag train in tow.

He stands on a crate near graveyard fence
Arching up his chest,
Then thrusts his fist and shouts
That of the living and the dead he’s the ruler.

Silent cold air shakes branches above
A leaf or two drop in swinging arcs
The waiting band snap-eyes and bolts
Through the bang of a swinging gate.

They shoot along the old maid’s house
Tumble down to the backyard empty,
Past the barking of the blind dog
Piling on to inward’s next dominion.

Scrapped up and flung over broken fence
Curly haired king now toppled and uncrowned,
Next boy hooks staff and takes the lead
To the place marked X on the next king’s map.



December 13, 2009

Back and Forth

It began with your smooth brown face
Coming close to mine -
Then your full lips peeling back from big white teeth.
A breath and then a surprise of a question -
Why don’t we start over?

To my many ‘nevers’ and ‘cant’s’ you persisted -
Why say we can’t when we can?
You swept your arm over my head,
A wizard, erasing blots from what came before-
Then you reached out to take my hand
Speaking in dazzling nonsense -

Walk with me, you said.
Our feet will blaze a path bursting with light.
Such lies! I cried.
Not again the stories of the new prince, the next dance,
Tomorrows that don’t collapse into yesterdays,
Grand cabarets that rise up
From whirling dream dervishes in dark bars.
Don’t you know that when you squeeze a sunrise
It just brings shadows?
Please leave me alone!

Still, you did not relent and spoke to my aches.
You tilted your head to the left and whispered to me again -
Just before a flower blooms, a tightness comes.
Fibers built to resist, relent.
Then comes the snap and an opening -
A wet naked moment,
The first touch of what will be.

Your big, white-palmed hands floated near my face
I sat still.
I had no quick joke to push you back,
No restatements of the ‘woulds’ nor the ‘coulds’.
I saw that you would have your way with me
And I would offer you my grateful permission.

November 22, 2009