Start Up* Poem by Bill Grace

With wife gone and morning's gray turned light
I love the time before the energy of passion comes
When a black chimney can burn into blueing sky
The time before the second cup of coffee
The time before checking the weather on the web
or the New York Times or research that seems to take so much
The time when siren wails are the exception
When cat draws near and dog will think about it.

The time before public dressing,
When street lights cast dog leash and hooded jilaba
And a vastly over size corgi, into the moving shadow of:
'Death Walking His Dog' - a photograph yet to print.