PLACE

masked, upright
shoulder strap across
classical music pipes
into free headset

soy latte post-salad bowl
in the airport, a far cry
from the recollected little metal spoons
and trays of rubbery chicken
on long ago cross Atlantic flights
cavorting in the aisles with brothers for hours

away we go after the prolonged sequestration
toward an unfettered future

the doorway to elsewhere
stays ajar and Caren appears
having crossed my mind
two years earlier

eventually it links to water
embryonic, the 80%
we ignore so easily as if
this mass of flesh is not illusion

we deny oceanic ripple
aqueous cell structure
salted or clear
our buoyancy

keeping us supple the river
we think won’t dry

Monday, I put it in my pocket,
rub it smooth to soothe my nerves.

Tuesday, I try to scale it.
Enormous, looming it takes all my strength.

Wednesday, I kick it out of my way,
inconsequential pebble in my path.

Thursday, sit on it. Look out at the horizon.
Feel small compared with geologic time.

Friday, wear it. Bedecked, bejeweled, glistening
and weighted I feel protected by earthly wealth.

Saturday, walk into its cave cool dankness
to escape the glaring sun. Awed by form.

Sunday, waft through with immense faith
that there is another side to this hardness.

the purple stone stolen
with my journal
and the woven bag
inherited from a cryptic poet

all taken from the white car
window I’d left open a crack
in front of a medical building
when i recover the secret will be out

i wrote you into the truth
you whom i carried across
the empty threshold
of stolen time

above the country
plenty of 1st class arm
space and documents

the news is all about Iraq
insurgency and the beheaded

which ever chosen language
co-opted accent of refugee
vs. shameful vernacular

the stiffness of L-5, S-1 coincides
with various rainy days

ignore disjointed information
focus on seat belt explanations
and exit row agreements

carry a picture jasper stone
to breathe into once in a while

concentrate on the immeasurable
moment where altitude at top speed
propels time forward to satiate wish