A Few Clear Moments
That one understood everything about me
With one glance
As I raised the razor to my face.
Oh, dear God!
What a pair of eyes that one had!
The eyes that said:
Everything outside this moment is a lie.
*
Another one snuck up to me one day
As I looked out of the window
At some big trees in the yard,
Whispering: Aren’t they something ?
Not one leaf among them stirring
In the glare and heat of the afternoon.
Not one bird daring to peep
And make the hand of the clock move again
*
Or how about the time when the storm
Tore the power lines down on my street
And I lit a match and caught a glimpse
With my mouth open in dark surprise
Of my face in a mirror across the room
And only one tooth showing in front
Like a butcher waiting in white apron
For a customer to walk through the door.
*
It made me think of the way a hand of someone
About to fall asleep reaches out blindly
And suddenly closes over a fly,
And remains tightly closed,
Listening for a buzz in the room,
Then to the silence inside the fist
As if it held an undertaker in it
Taking a nap inside a new coffin.
*
The ticking of the alarm clock,
And I the lone insubordinate,
Breaking step, sneaking a look
Over my left shoulder
At a small hillside meadow
Where I lay with a girl once
In the early evening quiet,
After we were done loving,
Grateful now for having
This cross to bear as I march along.
*
A bit of light decanted from on high
Was all that remained in the wineglass
As I sat slumped on the front steps
After the last guest had departed,
While the trees and the sky held
Their breath watching with me
The coming night make the yard dimmer
And one lone firefly set out tipsily
Over the tall grass likely looking
For another firefly to come along.
With one glance
As I raised the razor to my face.
Oh, dear God!
What a pair of eyes that one had!
The eyes that said:
Everything outside this moment is a lie.
*
Another one snuck up to me one day
As I looked out of the window
At some big trees in the yard,
Whispering: Aren’t they something ?
Not one leaf among them stirring
In the glare and heat of the afternoon.
Not one bird daring to peep
And make the hand of the clock move again
*
Or how about the time when the storm
Tore the power lines down on my street
And I lit a match and caught a glimpse
With my mouth open in dark surprise
Of my face in a mirror across the room
And only one tooth showing in front
Like a butcher waiting in white apron
For a customer to walk through the door.
*
It made me think of the way a hand of someone
About to fall asleep reaches out blindly
And suddenly closes over a fly,
And remains tightly closed,
Listening for a buzz in the room,
Then to the silence inside the fist
As if it held an undertaker in it
Taking a nap inside a new coffin.
*
The ticking of the alarm clock,
And I the lone insubordinate,
Breaking step, sneaking a look
Over my left shoulder
At a small hillside meadow
Where I lay with a girl once
In the early evening quiet,
After we were done loving,
Grateful now for having
This cross to bear as I march along.
*
A bit of light decanted from on high
Was all that remained in the wineglass
As I sat slumped on the front steps
After the last guest had departed,
While the trees and the sky held
Their breath watching with me
The coming night make the yard dimmer
And one lone firefly set out tipsily
Over the tall grass likely looking
For another firefly to come along.
