dark ships

i have grown callous
listening to the wind
over open water

“indeed there is a time”

sports teams    angels          red throats
singers                 rubies          paint
ashes               cars        runways
cedars                 light

as though one is forgotten among bushes with lanterns
on dark nights near ancient buildings where
troupes gather and young art students create
timeless objects aged near bodies aching at a car’s door
for the reciprocal urge of simply a kiss

the eye moves towards oblivion
as if raking a forest for seasonal treats

i stand on top of a bell tower
counting pigeons.

fog

a tired hand shuffles through papers
          the room is in shadow

“I could never explain events to her afterwards”

pearls      sheets      water off ithaca
paintings      phones      children’s pictures
scratched out lineages      wigs      perfume

plants sound with wind through leaves
a cat perches on a ledge watching

“It took years for her to disintegrate”

he remembers watching the fishers
in the port of nauplion haul in a day’s work.

silence    tv shows      blue-haired companion falling

a pen rests in a drawer
under light from a broken lamp

“I planned but never understood how it would feel”

candy jars           memories           spatulas
colors           dreams