I feel like a glass that’s been shattered,
nudged from life’s table by a careless elbow.
In the middle of my kitchen
jags the edge that loves Russia.
Under the table
shine my dreams of the moon.
My inner child kneels among the sparkles,
frantically mopping.

If my ideas are like butterflies,
then I am a lazy butterfly catcher,
sitting dazed on the banks of a river,
without pencil or paper,
I gawk at the canyon,
at the waves,
at the sky.
No, I’m not even looking for butterflies.
Instead, I’m watching,
waiting.
It’s dreaming
that saves.

Like an apple on toothpicks,
the elderly ballerina
tiptoes across the yard.

Finding the pond,
she asks
the dark waters
for their old reflections.

Like a duck,
she submerges her head,
draining away
the makeup
and the years.

Emerging as swan,
she swims the shadows—
Echappe, pas ballonne, glissade.

Remembering
across the years,
across the algean floor,
freeing dreams
of Barishnikov.

Moon

waxes,

shows the man

she often hides,

wanes.

***

Men

escape,

climb the walls,

reach for Heaven,

fly.

***

Life

struggles,

resists change,

destroys others,

dies.

***

Leaf

shivers,

drops the snow,

sways back and forth,

springs.

I think I see you running for the train
The shock of recognition stops me still
Our love’s been lost for years, so I refrain.

Your form remains a blur in all this rain
I start to lift my hand and yet I’m still
I think I see you running for the train.

I see your happy eyes and I’m all pain
Sensations long forsaken prompt me still
Our love’s been lost for years, so I refrain.

You’re soaring with a girl down this wide lane
You’re thinner and your clothes are different, still
I think I see you running for the train.

I’m wrong, it isn’t you, my eyes complain
The need to know consumes me ’till I’m ill
Our love’s been lost for years, so I refrain.

It’s too late now, I know it’s all in vain,
I shut my eyes but see your image still
I think I see you running for the train
Our love’s been lost for years, so I remain.

Razors cross my heart—when I remember you

Anchors split my soul—when I think of you

Zero is how I feel—when I talk to you

Only you—can annihilate me

Reveal—every part of me