Richard Cole Poems

In New York, yes, the women are dreaming.
In lacework of hallways, hesitant with pearls,
In the violets of evening, one night reaching the next,
In the amber water of Victorian aquariums,
...

At first you see nothing,
eyes adapting to the low light,
sky light from above,
and then, out of the dark
...

Keep mainly to themselves, leading
The quiet life down there,
Free from distraction.
...

He takes a breath
And peels the compliant
Skin from the back of his hand
To show us clearly
...

I

Wonderingly, he
Touches the stump,
...

Our children seem indestructible at times,
Racing through the iron playground with energy
That’s almost frightening, and then
...

I see so many of us
Wandering down to the end
Of an ocean pier at dawn, after
The party, the men in their yellow uniforms,
...

We sleep late through the morning and make
love quietly in the middle of the day.
We're waiting for the telephone to ring.
Someone somewhere in California is reading
...

Late afternoon, soft light, a little rain
dripping quietly under the trees.
I'm early for a business appointment,
so I wander down Perry Street, peeking inside
...

Friday morning,
gray faces in the
subway car, rocking
under the hospital
...