New Year's Eve—2019
there aren't any
New Year's bells now
but I remember
chimes at midnight
heard over the popping
of champagne corks
accidental kisses
beyond an auld lang syne
falling across the garden
the church down the street
took away its bell
and replaced it with a cassette tape
and a loudspeaker
that never worked
New Year's is like a cloud
that goes by
nobody looks up
there's just passing
but something is pulling at me
from the stars
CHRISTMAS POEM
Christmas is approaching fast
a couple of days now
I saw a man put a slab of honeycomb
on his head like a hat
the honey dripped down
like a choir’s song
over his shoulders
his tears fell like wax
Christmas is burdening the winter
a week or two
of logs in a fireplace
public joy goes into the air like sparks
the people weep fir trees
howl ribbons of tape
how the crunch
of their Christmas boots
strains the hard chest of earth
Christmas sits in the corner of the room
with fruit pies and magpies
and mad black crows of glass and wine
peace be ours
cry the loudspeakers
parking for your car
in the depth of your dreams
crumbs for the birds at your fingertips
A Criminal on the Street
you run
into a criminal
on the street
he's counting
the days
on his gloved fingers
you ask him
for some outlaw
cool
he smiles
like a wax pig
trips on the curb
you help him up
he is soft like
a breast of chicken
his grey hair
dead grass
a cat walks by
in its taffeta freedom
shoots him
through the heart
with a whisker
Toy
Galileo's toy
with its spectacular rings
amuses space
like a nightlight
in darkness
expect to hear
mariner music
through two hundred inches
of telescope
