The right movement of the right foot
on dirt under tree-green grass underfoot,
the right movement of the left foot:

If he could throw his arms around the sun
(who does not pull any punches, brother)
then he would be, at last, the rainbow, strung

Out where Lethe meets the sea, past the bend
in the long arm of water, where the waves
gesture casually at the beach, is rest.

Tonight I spent a good while in the garden,
thinking about—well, sitting amongst the flowers
I love to see, and, when it grew too dark,

Morning, on the quay, there’s a break in the light
rain here in the serene republic. I take in the light.

Like Proust’s maman, she stayed in when I prowled
the alleyways at night, making a point
of waiting, lit up in the window, gold

Without television, they might have been
no more than stolen coins left
on a railroad track and flattened,

You must have looked so small
treading hungry water
with Rex and Elizabeth.

While you are sleeping
in a bed tethered to the wall
by the cord

You have shown me
that there is no trick