Six Feet

remember that yardstick?

(more like two of them)

a metric that mattered

(so we were told)

social distancing

defining where

one aura began

another ended

(I should have said era)

up there

aboveground

not that 6 feet

for god's sake

and then today

or was it yesterday

(time has become so timeless)

as I walked by the school

elementary, so primary

colors, I saw those chalk outlines

body shapes

pastel designs

I am sorry to report

that reminded me 

of a TV crime scene

(a not-very-parenthetical aside

I am told)

all kidding aside

I wish I didn't go there

don't you

I wish we all did not

go there or anywhere

like that 

Ukrainian Rain

on a field of blue and yellow

sky and gold

on plains of wheat

and cities of old

an ancient rain falling

fresh as blood

and raw as meat

a lone baby crying

an aria forgotten

and a mercy unsuckled

a prayer still screaming

war

how foolish we thought

we felt so retro

that war was

just

a thing

an ancient artifact

a boomer anecdote

a cold memory

a hot flash

war so old-fashioned

framed out of history

texts and rubble

sepia photos

black and white

either or

infants' limbs

family shrapnel

silent shards

blood so loud

we thought

that was all over

war and peace

a novel idea

it was just beginning

the recurring nightmare

an endless loop

a rosary of mercy

we need

and want 

a garland of roses

we pray

beseech

beckon

we beg for

peace

now

in our time

this now

this time

cancel culture

cancel culture

as in what

culture

such as it is

or was

or will be

world without end

canceled check

balance overdue

canceled cells

cancered sells

checks in the mail

chain mail

ancient artifacts

like paper

and facts

themselves

cc: blind copies

can-can culture

no can do

yes we can

bel canto

incantatory

stories

ad infinitum

rearview solstice

they said it was the shortest day not a D-Day but a December diurnal one a solstice they said something about the sun earth nexus something about the failing light flailing to find itself on the upswing stretching out the light the definition of day and now I am flailing to see that in my February-drenched rearview mirror the one with the solstice memory the one with the solstice promise winking at me the driver me the one masquerading as something someone whose name escapes me

The Nicene Creed

nice not the first thought

nicene being

its adjective twin

yet nicene enough

insense and all

maker of all things 

of all that is

seen and unseen

(that infinite comma up there)

think about it 

all that is

both seen and unseen

shrouded by skin

shaped by veins

eternally begotten

not made

faith more than creed

creed more than doubt

a twig

to stand on

seen not seen

felt not felt

in time

forever

 

 

Anything's Possible

except I hate absolutes

or is it fear

any thing

solid liquid air

possible

might 

could

would

should

anything be possible

including me

or you

excluding no one

anything's possible

it's been said

so I've been told

even this

these words

bursting into

nothing's impossible

kingdom queendom

come

worlds without end

in thralldom