10:32

for Trina

The clock’s digital display
just changed as if a minute
makes a difference but
of course it does

this moment you are here
in bed beside me this moment
I have written a testimony
to that and what is on the nightstand

no longer tells my time
your love is the clock now
it marks every moment

it is the difference

**

Fruit water

We had water soaked in sliced citrus fruit
at the hotel where we stayed
when my father died and tonight

as you drink your wine
and I my brandy
as the night winds down

as his life wound down
I cut oranges, lemons and limes
and again fruit water

slakes our thirst
and this we drink in remembrance
of him

and of us

enduring

**

Déjà vu

I always saw the fire or at least suspected
there was something to keep me warm

and it kept disappearing
on roads foggy as black-and white

‘40s horror-film dry ice
monster movies poorly archived and grainy

today I wake from dreamy sleep, feet muddy,
clothe s torn, suspecting I’ve killed something

head shaking, half-certain
again of blood surging into another poem

seeing the fire
of another day