...missing ends and pieces...

have you found the end

of your year yet I know its

around here somewhere

but it has gone missing

like the keys and wallet

events and occupations

photos and poems

all the days we have left

behind and all the narrow

paths that begin to widen

in the fresh start of a decade

the truly trivial beginning

of a numerical refresh button

we feel safe starting at one

like a newly created piece

...scars and gloss on Sue...

rain eats it

away from paint

and salt strips her

last bits of gloss

auburn burnt rust

metal bent and popped

into place, scars

of street sweepers

stains of plow

iodine in detritus

cracks in streets, wheels

rains eat it

away so she can

shine again tomorrow

--for Sue B.

...snow first...

if this white blanket

folds and it will

with the help of salt

and stone then

this renewal seems

false and this all

seems so not pure

and the blanket

becomes binding

around the feet

...cold air and dinner...

december is the cruelest brunch

and the "samich" stand freezes

to it own leaks and metals

so we'll go to the lunch place

with the soup and we'll go to

remember the dinner before

we have even tasted an appetizer

or a kiss or the first spoon

of our new year

and the anniversary

of my minor entree

into this air, vapor

cloud white

in this atmosphere