On Ojibway Island <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Seeking herons\u2019 pointed beaks, egrets\u2019 plumes,<\/p>\n
I idle beyond the empty band shell,<\/p>\n
its warping panels.<\/p>\n
Seeing none,<\/p>\n
I follow the circular drive,<\/p>\n
its one-way path,<\/p>\n
with water to my right, lawn always left,<\/p>\n
but find no comfort,<\/p>\n
only remains<\/p>\n
of picnic lunches calling to crows,<\/p>\n
white historical markers<\/p>\n
turning grey under basalt skies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The local AM preacher<\/p>\n
asks for alms, preys on the prayerful,<\/p>\n
but on Ojibway,<\/p>\n
first masses were offered<\/p>\n
in thick qu\u00e9becois.<\/p>\n
Father Nouvel pinned black robes,<\/p>\n
brown woolens, between knee, soggy ground.<\/p>\n
I imagine him leading his devout, the paid, the cajoled,<\/p>\n
further upstream,<\/p>\n
toward the Shiawassee flats,<\/p>\n
purple phlox standing tall, heads bowed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mosquito choirs remain,<\/p>\n
but faith, wonder are fleeting\u2014<\/p>\n
could he find beauty in blue chicory<\/p>\n
growing in asphalt\u2019s crumbling edge?<\/p>\n
gang symbols sprouting on river concrete,<\/p>\n
spiraling like the spent balls of clematis,<\/p>\n
Medusa\u2019s locks?<\/p>\n
the culled forests replaced by utility poles,<\/p>\n
smokestacks?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLeaving this island,<\/p>\n
where the Sauks are no more,<\/p>\n
I follow gravel rivers flowing both ways.<\/p>\n
Behind the court house,<\/p>\n
its walls of concrete justice,<\/p>\n
church gardens show off maroon peonies<\/p>\n
that emerge from ants,<\/p>\n
that hide legs under ruffled skirts;<\/p>\n
celebrate the curved stems,<\/p>\n
striped leaves of nasturtium<\/p>\n
that escape from stony seeds;<\/p>\n
praise the yellow pansies with purple masks.<\/p>\n
Nearby, condemned signs, printed on red paper,<\/p>\n
are taped to doorways, sinking foundations.<\/p>\n
Eviction glows like a new scar, the mark of Cain.<\/p>\n
Cookfires, hope have become orange smoke<\/p>\n
helixing on the horizon.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n <\/strong><\/p>\n* \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0* \u00a0 \u00a0 *<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Reunion, Late Summer<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Through her bay window,<\/p>\n
sun sinks into water,<\/p>\n
reminds me of a communion wafer bypassing teeth,<\/p>\n
an egg yolk swallowed whole.<\/p>\n
Hummingbirds flit about feeders;<\/p>\n
iridescent breasts, metallic silk shawls,<\/p>\n
glitter like stained glass.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While she prattles about<\/p>\n
overweight neighbors<\/p>\n
balancing in kayaks,<\/p>\n
moving through,<\/p>\n
between the evaporated tracks<\/p>\n
of snowmobilers,<\/p>\n
I tally changes, constants:<\/p>\n
sarcasm remains, but not the beehive;<\/p>\n
eyebrows are still plucked into perpetual surprise.<\/p>\n
I dream of Audrey Hepburn in Charade.<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nWe settle in the breakfast nook<\/p>\n
where a wrought-iron patio set sprouts<\/p>\n
from green shag.<\/p>\n
Fleurs-de-lis<\/em> form table legs.<\/p>\nA crack splits its glass<\/p>\n
top. Her toenails curving under,<\/p>\n
her left foot turned out,<\/p>\n
she hobbles about in terrycloth,<\/p>\n
turquoise, pain, a knit cap<\/p>\n
despite the heat.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I try to set the table, guess where<\/p>\n
silverware, potholders might be,<\/p>\n
always off the mark,<\/p>\n
the thread off the loom,<\/p>\n
feather poking through pillows.<\/p>\n
Cackling,<\/p>\n
more crone than fairy godmother,<\/p>\n
she acknowledges my distress,<\/p>\n
calls of \u201cwhere, where?\u201d<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t find forks but know<\/p>\n
bags of bottles, gallon jugs of Gallo green,<\/p>\n
line garage walls.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My evil self plans escape,<\/p>\n
eyes telegraphing distress calls to my wife\u2014<\/p>\n
glances, eye rolls become dots, dashes,<\/p>\n
the click of metal<\/p>\n
meeting metal, silver, copper,<\/p>\n
the message known only by paired stationmasters;<\/p>\n
faith, for them, resides<\/p>\n
in the medium, warp, weft, line.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fearing the future,<\/p>\n
a repeated past,<\/p>\n
I study my aunt in profile, against the glass,<\/p>\n
surveying evening.<\/p>\n
The nightingale\u2019s kir-kir-kir<\/em> hovers<\/p>\nover greying water; cattails sway<\/p>\n
like ticking metronomes in the wake<\/p>\n
of purple martins, swallows,<\/p>\n
silenced, at twilight.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
* \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0* \u00a0 \u00a0 *<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Retreating <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Sweet stars, I\u2019ll ask a softer question: Moon<\/p>\n
attend me to the end. I\u2019m here alone.<\/p>\n
–Theodore Roethke, Straw for the Fire\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
He hides beneath blue hydrangeas<\/p>\n
lining his Uncle Karl\u2019s home.<\/p>\n
The Kreuzer sonata, though the boy can\u2019t name it,<\/p>\n
washes over him,<\/p>\n
funneled between the open space<\/p>\n
linking sill, sash,<\/p>\n
carrying the burning kerosene of hurricane lamps.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As German lieder<\/em> fall,<\/p>\nhis chin on his knees,<\/p>\n
he leans into rounded cobblestones,<\/p>\n
scent of cooled compost.<\/p>\n
Wet leaf-mould glints in perpetual dusk.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He studies the rising clapboards<\/p>\n
of his home, whitewashed, rigid.<\/p>\n
Squares of light, filtered through gingham,<\/p>\n
still carry the glare of church elders<\/p>\n
anointed with tobacco, tea, indignation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The greenhouse, its slick walls,<\/p>\n
remains another option.<\/p>\n
The rising moon repeats<\/p>\n
in each pane<\/p>\n
like a series of dominoes,<\/p>\n
a single pip in each square,<\/p>\n
one on one on one,<\/p>\n
one by one by one.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Flowers under night glass are<\/p>\n
nothing<\/p>\n
but shadows, blue gardens<\/p>\n
in humid air.<\/p>\n
Between leaves, arthritic twigs,<\/p>\n
he scans skies for sweeter stars.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
* \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0* \u00a0 \u00a0 *<\/p>\n
\n <\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nIntercession, or Torso Turning<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Oversized chestnut leaves,<\/p>\n
marked by beige blight moving from edges inward,<\/p>\n
separate Jeanne de Fiennes from day\u2019s eye;<\/p>\n
his emptied sockets<\/p>\n
ignore the gold spreading over his foot.<\/p>\n
This rash inches upward,<\/p>\n
like lichen,<\/p>\n
growing from touch<\/p>\n
repeated.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
His spine is a furrow,<\/p>\n
cut deep by a rusting plow.<\/p>\n
Fingers remain spread,<\/p>\n
the ball of the left foot planted<\/p>\n
in permanence,<\/p>\n
the sole a bridge to nowhere.<\/p>\n
Lips are parted\u2014to speak? to scream?\u2014<\/p>\n
I wait to hear his voice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I leave this martyr, his shadow, this shade,<\/p>\n
for wild roses teeming with lemon centers,<\/p>\n
layers of mums,<\/p>\n
white on white,<\/p>\n
each smaller than the last,<\/p>\n
like nesting dolls,<\/p>\n
the pebbled path unwinding like a loose thread.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I follow this Parisian stream of stone,<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pink, grey, white<\/p>\n
sights obscured by ornamental grass<\/p>\n
ever reaching upward;<\/p>\n
Here stones make a scratching noise under foot.<\/p>\n
Here saints\u2019 suffering, sacrifice remain<\/p>\n
ever green;<\/p>\n
here I hope to find you.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
* \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0* \u00a0 \u00a0 *<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
naming the memory ward<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
on movie night<\/p>\n
where credits never run<\/p>\n
nurses push patrons<\/p>\n
outdoors<\/p>\n
(as if diners would order this dish)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
the screen is a sheer sheet<\/p>\n
pinholed<\/p>\n
white as a pumpkin seed<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
i imagine edges burning inward<\/p>\n
narrowing<\/p>\n
to ashes<\/p>\n
ashes<\/p>\n
ash<\/p>\n
sh<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
another visit<\/p>\n
i leave the day\u2019s burning eye<\/p>\n
adjust to ward walls, today\u2019s verbal games<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
a bird in the hand \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 poops pecks pleads<\/em><\/p>\nit\u2019s raining cats \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 what<\/em><\/p>\na rose is a rose is a \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 flower<\/em><\/p>\ndon\u2019t throw the baby out \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/u><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ever\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
a perfect score<\/p>\n
you still lose<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
tvs burn blue<\/p>\n
yesterday\u2019s menu loops<\/p>\n
beef bacon baloney<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
i carve with sharpies<\/p>\n
on polyester<\/p>\n
a deflated blouse<\/p>\n
blue scarf bursting with begonias<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
sharp lines bleed<\/p>\n
bend<\/p>\n
bruises blossom<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
photos mark months<\/p>\n
scalloped sepia surfaces in september<\/p>\n
bridesmaids and bouquets bear blanks<\/p>\n
groomsmen grin<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
you ask their names<\/p>\n
i have no answer<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
so i try to bring the outdoors in<\/p>\n
line your windowsill<\/p>\n
name what I can<\/p>\n
rosemary red basil lavender<\/p>\n
love-lies-bleeding<\/p>\n
rue<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
late fall brings baby albums<\/p>\n
more snapshots:<\/p>\n
another hospital bed<\/p>\n
iris pinned to your chest<\/p>\n
priests peddle blessings in bottles<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
even i know their line<\/p>\n
(what do you ask of the church)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
saints slip<\/p>\n
from your tongue<\/p>\n
like words from your past<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
you rustle<\/p>\n
wrestle with candy wrappers<\/p>\n
stripped of sweetness<\/p>\n
raspberries resurrecting roommates<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
surrounded by seagrass<\/p>\n
cradled by cotton<\/p>\n
you stare to space<\/p>\n
succumb<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
patient\/guest\/in\/out<\/p>\n
impatient\/outguess<\/p>\n
outing\/out\/in<\/p>\n
i refuse the visitor log<\/p>\n
blaming blooms in my fingers<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
christmas cacti burn blood-red at easter\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
i stake mums in shade<\/p>\n
twist twine<\/p>\n
to tether stalk to stick<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
i brush against obedient plants<\/p>\n
belled blooms<\/p>\n
feathered ferns<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
pinked petals elongate<\/p>\n
into empty-eyed needles<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
phones stay still<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
i transplant aster after aster<\/p>\n
asterisk sunburst<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
diagnoses await<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
today i may be your father brother uncle<\/p>\n
wearing blue<\/p>\n
bringing forget-me-nots<\/p>\n
acquiescing<\/p>\n
allowing<\/p>\n
agreeing<\/p>\n
telling you go go<\/p>\n
go<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leaving this island,
\nwhere the Sauks are no more . . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5643"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5761,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5643\/revisions\/5761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Epiphany\"](\"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/POETRY.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n