fortune is random
but relative blessing
can be cultivated

street fortune
didn't realize
that's where he went
 

emboldened
but now no one knows
-- it is just there

brown sugar and fig
dark mark moleskin
vintage rooted wave

surviving ghosts reside
in the delicate corners
of your eyes

he thought he got his message across
in the innocuous ways
people communicate

1981, unknown location
courtesy of Pat Cook/YouTube

ever closer, delicate sounds
of love and survival
shimmer above the street

recovered diamonds shimmer
in our united eyes, fallen
from the world to come

attending our reception
loving minds apparent as history
and possibilities are united

the art of possibilities

surface under hinges

apparent scuffs deserted

subtleties emerge
from the haze of wants
vast vista

much will hinge
below the surface
it would truly mean to be

a partner
a focused moment of evolution
unexpectedly significant

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