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TIDEWATER
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Breath on nail, The nerve, wind On white boat. Sails, yellow dress, Salt water grass. Laundry, palette Of fabric sunlight Condensed, river Of glistening skin Radiant of all that is Not the mind accepts, Open to the air, The wanting nerve Without voice, Tidewater on sand, Water in tide. |
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MONUMENTS
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Heat washes the bright world, Rain falls in the distinct way rain falls In summer on marble and grass. I smile because or despite exhaustion From your countless peculiarities, Your love of cemeteries least among them. In your laughter distances recede Until at last your laughter fades, Its disappearance an aspect of perfection. Small ratios of understanding Do not have the weight of monuments In grass. It is rather the way grass bends Beneath the weight or light succumbs, Grown dark and lush in summer rain.
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CIRCLE
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Passion's Fulfillment is ruin, Heaven won By renunciation. Chagall’s accordion And yellow stars In blue night, Dark dress, Tumble of shoes, Hand in hand. They have chosen Their punishment As Aucassin for Nicolette: Encircled arms And a floating wind.
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BOARDWALK
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Refuse below Ferris wheel, Tumbling plastic bag on beach, Young love in the weeds, Cigarette smoke, white shirt Stained with lipstick. City dwellers, salt hair, Wet dress, sea waves, Hand-carved horses and band organ. A man remembers Brooklyn, 1945, Her smile, the delicate park.
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PERENNIAL
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I found the iris pressed inside a book Filled with fading words in a language Neither of us understood, the same iris I gave you and you kept in your hair Before its blossom began to wither, Its whisperish purple turned hollow black. How welcome it is to find the flower Blooming again always inside this book I have never read yet understand, simply By its weight. It is good to know Some things are perennial; regardless Of weather, and no matter how swiftly They flourish, the strong buds cluster, Eager to effloresce. We can wear them Easy as gestures, as small garlands Of tears prospering in our eyes.
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| Threnody, a collection of poems by Eric Hoffman is now available. 32 pages, perfect bound. Send $10 ($8 +$2 shipping) via check, money order payable to Eric Hoffman, 22 Vincent Street, West Hartford, CT 06119. Also available from Lone Willow Press, Things Like This Happen All the Time. Lone Willow Press, PO Box 31647, Omaha, NE 68131, lonewillowpress@aol.com |
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