belovedgoddess aboard
exhausting allnighttrain
pointless tonight
icestreets,
rivertoots,
merginglakes-
rubbersoul dreams
emerging from drowningsouls,
impossible blizzards,
warm breakfastkitchens
blendinglives to melteddownyears,
exhaustedstrangersendlesslywaitingatthesedoors,
prevailing knives between trees
Eskimosliningup
blindedatbirth,
paintings wetwithorgans,
downtownManhattan quicksketchings
drowning in loftsofwords,
where hipsters slipintolovemaking
for no particularreasonotherthan impassableroads,
persistentrebirths,
swelteringwinters,
anniversariesofpeacetimes
and so dreamdamagedsouls emerge
from benign drowninghearts,
while memories of endlesslywearystrangers
assault these midnight doors
mergingasone,
prevailing knives between trees
March, 1981
Paterson