We joined you at your table
on the cruise ship,
quiet couple from Japan,
Greek-island tourists just like us
except you were familiar
with an island life
and we were prairie folks
from Canada.
Your English, like your manner,
was controlled and spare
without unnecessary words or gestures.
Yet your smiles were warm and spoke
of gentle hospitality.
We gave our luncheon order. You had given yours
before […]
I’m thirsty for the sound of your voice,
as sand waits for saturation from the sea.
But not to me do you allow
even a sip of tasty hello.
As sand waits for saturation from the sea
I am a desert you deprive
even a sip of tasty hello
Make it rain, say my name.
I am a desert you deprive
all quenching salutations
make […]
When the sun goes down
sails and feathers leave
the river. An empty planet
burns in the sky
as lights come on
in the city, and ragged lines
collect before the doors
open, but you don’t arrive
until there’s nothing left
but chrome stars
flashing from the mikes,
the guitars, the drum kit,
and you realize
that you don’t know
anyone, anymore
who has known you all your life.
~ George […]
In the half dark
I watch his lithe figure
like muscled smoke, leap
from the curb, a shadow-tail’s
deft feather balancing his flight
under the two ton
momentum of my Odyssey van,
and when he stops, turns back,
there’s almost no time to decide:
come down hard on the brake,
or trust what he understands
about that split second
window between the wheels.
~ George Amabile
George Amabile […]
She’s slowly sipping orange juice.
He’s at the omelet station
waiting for his Western.
Last night, they were in each other’s
arms but this morning, if it
isn’t fluid it won’t go down.
And he’s famished, so he says,
so he’s off to see the expert.
She wonders why she chose bacon
of all things, tiny crinkled bits
of fried fat, like his penis
when he […]
