ConeyIsland (to You)

It is in

These early dawn

Hours when asleep

You all are

That I find

My greatest peace

You still sleeping

Yet I am

Now dreaming these

Delicate petit fours

Sweet and savory

Morsels of memory

That tickle and

Hang and dissolve

And disappear into

Another and another

These waves coming

Ashore bringing with

Them trinkets of

By gone times

That I collect

Like a child

On Coney Island

Wondering where they

Started then remembering

It was there

Of course way

Way out there

And reaching out

To the horizon

I pinch that

Thin line between

Sea and sky

Gone they go

Replaced now by

Your sleepy eyes

Looking at me

WheatFields

Standing amidst fields

Of wheat I

Hear the delicate

Sound of wind

Pushing the kernels

Together like my

Mother’s brush on

Linoleum floors in

Other people’s homes

Standing here free

From those days

So long ago

This sound sings

Now to me

Degrees of simple

Silence a place

Of quiet forgiveness

For her many

Years of sadness

ItsThis

There is one

Thing that every

Living thing does

At least once

And it’s not

The thing that

You’re thinking now

But perhaps it’s

The thing that

You’re doing now

It’s this smile

Always

All I can

Promise you my

Young friend is

Nothing more than

Me to simply

Be your shadow

Even at night

Just close your

Eyes and I’m

Right with you

Have no fear

Because I’m here

AfterBefore

This morning’s sky

Has cleared like

That upturned look

And sweet slight

Smile through tears

After we knew

We must part

As we sat

Sitting and breaking

And saying nothing

Because post truth

Nothing else is

Really ever heard

At least not

In the same

Way as before