if you want
you must speak
or act

anything but clarity
on the night you did not see me
but I was lost in you

new leaves
flicker
in a clear breeze

in the fall of an evening
wind, birds, emerging stars
sprinkle our dreams with kindness

old friends are clear
crisp water --
easy to fall into

we are alone
without a fire, watching
a game that's already been lost

in my pocket
I had the magic number
but you did not ask

photo by M. Leder

as sad as it is

to miss a first bloom

there are worse fates

willful lies in service of profits
endanger innocent lives ~
hope, and work to stop them

we have all fallen --
every alarm echoes
in our wailing hearts, bereft

if you tend where I've been cut
with your kind look
gladness will rise

are you hiding in anonymous numbers?
nimble as we are, we wonder
without end, lost in the seam

siren song blusters through murky air
a kaddish calling burnt souls home
to a higher sphere of sapphire

the dream you sent signals
the beginning of new time
in the land of sky stretching

vine laden trees bloom
and sway in sandy winds -
a new day is near

For Pesach

our hearts smoke as we gaze

toward hills that rise

above the haze of waiting waters

tonight our doors are open

harsh ties that bind us are cut

we search among the sand

familiar songs and favorite foods

signal that we have come far

and that we are always at the beginning

released and releasing

remembered and remembering

in every state, grateful

to our heroes and the unnamed

who before us laid places

around this long, long table

if you hide too long
it will be harder to come out
when you want to

"Kind" by Gretchen Primack

Gretchen & I were MFA students together at Brooklyn College. She's a very fine poet and a passionate advocate for animal rights, so I'm happy to share the link below to a self-interview she's done as part of the The Next Big Thing Project about her upcoming book of poems, "Kind."

Gretchen Primack Self-Interview

in a dream I swam with your smile
in a waveless ocean
your skin pressed into mine

violet anemones, a pinecone
and valentines invite a Queen
into her quiet city

rosemary head
monkey arms
banana foot

night's parking lot, a perfect spot
to stop, my eyes
an unwritten poem

the absence of your soft presence
makes this home an empty cavern,
greys my heart

run run run over sweet-smell grass
smiles wave in your sunny wake
your beloved pack awaits

on this night, a home is full.
every heart present, every eye adores,
every hand secure, in peace

too quiet memory of your loving chaos
keeps me reeling beyond secret stars,
fills my veins with sugar sludge

waiting to hear, one way or another --
an empty frame, a frozen screen,
a blanket fallen from our bed

without your eyes on my small work
words live only in my fingers,
reflect only my heart

fatigue fair dates focus
and eyes long closed save
limited leaves for you

birds among stars, ask
to pass through these panes,
these endless rectangles

a historic library bursting
with the stories of the hordes
you leave behind