Is She Dead?
I soak in the hot tub this morning, drinking coffee
and reading the Writer’s Almanac. How the news
of Little Nell’s death in Old Curiosity Shop was late
reaching America. At the arrival of the ship carrying
the latest installment people shouted, “Is she dead?”
Today, we bury our Zelda. The winter temperatures
finally above freezing, the hole in the ground can be
dug. Puddles fill the street like tears. It’s been two
weeks since the vet put her to sleep. Even now
you nudge life’s limits, my coonhound, forever friend.
–John Lehman
PEACE
It does not mean to be in a place
where there is no noise, trouble
or hard work. It means to be in the
midst of those things and still be
calm in your heart.
–unknown
Poetry by Michael Kriesel
MATTER BALLET
It matters
more than
anything
orbiting
each other
until we
remember
we are
old as
starlight
older
than our
lives
engaged in
this ballet
of flesh
remembering
the sky
AT THE MALL
I’m looking
at a rack
of paperbacks
a young man
crouches
down
he’s saying
something
to his son
their faces
blaze a moment
like sunflowers
and the world
is filled with
hidden light
we are
all kings
in disguise
