April 2004

I.

At the bottom of the first

the game was barely audible

over my headphones. Twelve strings

measured the afternoon.

It was a musical muse. The last thing

on my mind was unkindness daddy,

but leaving was inevitable.

 

Somebody had to strike out

or hit foul. The game progressed

for the times they were a changin.

No, I said. That's not my house.

Yes, I said. This is my home

where my man and his boy play

blackjack, smile at me

through cheers and chords.

 

II.

Come to me, he said.

Come to me.

He slapped down another card,

the pitcher knuckled.

Somebody hit a grounder,

bumped it straight down that diamond,

more prosaic than the one I want off,

just off my finger sparkling up at me.

In the mall we lined up. We walked

in a trio like some kind of family.

 

III.

Nighttime and a funk groove

improved my kineisiology. I moved

bone deep. I slipped hips in and out

of time. Baby, I know how to mind

my p's, my cues. I slid right

into a twang of blues. You know.

That basic instinctual beat,

that rhythm sparks flicker into flame,

a saxy fuse all tenor toney honey sweet.

We cruised to completion and I cut

a rug, the cards, the cord.

I took my chances. I still know

how to shake a tailfeather.

 

IV.

Willow's starting to bud.

The tree man always notices

every branch. Every leaf

is a baby step. Spring crept

in. Ice melted and mud season

deepened the slow ground warmth.

The students biked or jogged,

arms, legs pumping. We drove

together and I thought he sees

green everywhere. Once the sash was stuck,

but now one window opens easily

to sun to life.

Reviews

[Tim McGovern]

Where have you been hiding this?

Whether you know it or not you have captured something very New England here.
The words can be universal, but they will ring truer to people here.

So many favorites parts, such great themes of rebirth and escape .
I want to read this every year during April, after the first game, when the temperature hits 60 for the first time and all you hear are birds and tires hissing through snow melt ans wet gravel.

Please send this some where

xox
Namaste'

[[untitled]]

It's me, Jack Kevin, hoisting a can of Boddingtons
replete with 200 year old yeast specks.

Well I've been married 4 times along with a few
other long misses and I just love this poem
of " I have had it."
The 12 strings of McGuinn split against
the mediocrity of a dimming sport.
(Should I gather correctly.)

And then that ring. It takes on a life of it's own.
Six months after my first marriage I crushed
the gold band with pliers and threw it into
the back of a cluttered closet.

And then the sex scene.
One last time just for yourself,
for you only with certain knowledge.
Like a keepsake.

Eyes open and forward on!

You write with such precision
and are clear through the
poetic shading.
Excellent!
Jack

[Toni Prehoda Kahler]

Your verbs sing out, intensify the ride for me---I love where you take me, making me see the act of leaving (or wanting to leave) in tens of new ways here. The push and pull, the "barely audible", the times of connection as jazz-beat, some crafty humor, some asides - I just love it! It's refreshing how you avoid naming exact events & feelings, but instead create it for me in colorful visuals that let me imagine my way to your truths. Like in the last stanza, I know there is a renewal because of your images: "baby steps", "spring crept in", "slow ground warmth", and espeically your closing image of a window opening to sun and life.

Who is the third party ("We walked in a trio like some kind of family")

I love "Come to me, he said.
Come to me."

"We cruised to completion, and I cut a rug, the cards, the cord"...I wonder what has just happened....you in control....

But you're still driving together...

That he is the "tree man" fascinates me, that he "sees green everywhere". This is quite potent and essential to the whole. You show him as the optimist, as someone who notices every
branch & bud. Is it him, the "one window" opening, or you? is it the first of many yet to open? I suddenly have many questions.....