Ars Ecphrastica
Although your fingers and my eyes agree,
It is unheard of, Cameron, what you see—
Describing scenes of color, form, and light
Which you perceive by any means but sight.
War Sonnet with a Simile Borrowed from Kyle Okoke’s ‘Matthew 6:28’
Chest like a trapdoor and me a medic,
parachuting in, leaning over the body shattered
on the rubbled road, I listen to the heart ticking
like unexploded ordnance …
A Shipwrecked Person
When I woke from my afternoon nap, I wanted
to hold onto my dream, but in a matter of seconds
it had drifted away like a fine mist. Nothing
remained; oh, perhaps a green corner of cloth
pinched between my fingers, signifying what?
Putting Together Ikea Furniture
Think of the wars that had to be fought,
the bloodbaths,
the overthrowing of kings and kingdoms.
The loggers who cut the wood
in the forests of Romania,
and Lithuania and Latvia,
and in Lowndes, Alabama.
The Accordion
The highlight of every Christmas was you climbing
the attic staircase, like a memory to your childhood,
carrying down the brown leather case that held
the pearl-keyed Titano accordion.
Always Tender in the Wrong Places
Two bears and an owl walk into a bar—
the beginning of a joke, maybe,
or a dream.