David McLansky Poems

They told us all 'to just stay put, '
Breathing ashes and blackened soot,
'Put a towel against the door, '
'Wet it first, put it on the floor; '
...

No stillness filled the air,
The Nation didn't pause
Speechless with despair;
No limousine procession
...

Give me not
Your nubile girls
Experts on the course of life,
Whose baby cheeks
...

As I stole into your garden
The conifers thick upon the margin;
Sharp with needles that pinched my skin
That didn't want to let me in;
...

How gentle the first flower of Spring,
So innocent and stout
It bursts with strength the icy ring
And waves it's head about;
...

Vhia = Welcome to the Family

You radiate such sparkling joy
Your happiness contagious
...

When a poem is done
My soul is purged,
The torment released,
In nouns and verbs.
...

Bell of the morn
Streaks of red clouds
Signal the dawn;
The sun shall arise
...

Where Julia is, I do not know
Perhaps in the Catskill woods
Sitting in a wooden house
Staring at the snow
...

They lowered the babe into my lap;
Careful with her ties and snaps,
Her naked legs, startled, churning;
My eyes welled up, my throat was burnng.
...