Once,
I saw you (almost) raise your hand
then smile toward me…
but I was already too far away to speak
...
Now that your poems
don't sing of me
no need to choose colors carefully
...
Of my eleven thousand days or so
I think most about the autumns
about finding leaves for biology class
seeing the thighs I mean girls in shorts
...
The first ones
took hold of me
like a huge bear hug
from the librarian
...
In April
she came home from the city
brightly clad in flower power
bubbling with tales of life larger
...
He did not graduate with an MFA
or have an award for his lapel
No screen in hand
so they did not see him
...
I took this poem to the balcony
held it between the airwaves
Why?
Because Autumn,
...
Once I Saw You
Once,
I saw you (almost) raise your hand
then smile toward me…
but I was already too far away to speak
or change
the way I ached for you.
later,
when we shared the porch
hidden from passersby
behind the fragrant plants
that you gave your heart to
rather than I -
ah, we were breathless then
yet lost even so.
Now,
when I pass your house
in the warm eventide,
I’m distracted by no stars
smell no perfumes,
have no time to spare
for feelings such as these.
But if you would raise your hand
time would unwind,
I would try to speak;
or stumble
or smile