Thursday, June 21, 2007

Solstice

A breeze batters branches;
the honey locust whispers,
¡Esperanza, esperanza!
On the harbor, tugs flit
on fathomless errands,
and beyond, the dentate skyline
no longer bears the memory
of Yamasaki’s towers, their image now
recumbent in brass at my feet.
A squirrel, brazen, fixes me
with blank eyes while lithe young women,
buttocks bobbing in tandem,
do pushups against a park bench.
Toddlers screech and stumble,
as nannies share news in lilting
island accents. The sun arches
on its marathon course as I turn
toward home. A gust rattles
the gingko: “It’s all downhill from here.”

6 comments:

  1. I like that poem.

    Today it is officially summer and so the hellish heat is justified and here in Louisville the temperature is the coolest it has been in almost a month!

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  2. very nice claude. i thought this line "As nannies share news in lilting/Island accents." really captures the mood and place of your setting.

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  3. Thanks, Twiff. That's a nice new photo. Is that a furry friend peeking over your shoulder?

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  4. Twiff - now that I've gone to your profile and seen the pic in a larger format, I know it's a fine pipe. The smaller version I got on my fuzzy office monitor made it look like a cat's ears and eyes.

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  5. heh. i suppose it could look like a cat. that's my peterson's irish harp; one of my favorites in my rotation.

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  6. The ending is fantastic!

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