Losing ‘Great White Egret’

My memory’s erratic and tonight
I can’t locate your name – four syllables
just out of sight, hiding amongst the reeds

Bird out of place, you were a wonder.
I watched you from my kitchen window –
stilted ballerina, bright incongruity,
following our horses through the winter mud,
stepping in their hoof prints, day after day
through the fearsome months, delicate,
as if escaped from a dream: a puzzlement.
I looked for the message you had brought –
balance calmness contentment patience
no responsibility to take on the energy
of others …

Autumnal Equinox | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Autumnal Equinox

Julian, CA

this urge to drive somewhere—what is it?

from a fast window, even brown grass

looks exciting. rolling into town, the smell

of burnt apples. grandpas, babies, tattooed

teens squint in harsh sunlight as if …

Here | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Here

for Padraig Regan

Here is the inventory of stone I
could not bring myself to make
and instead I have simply
photographed where stones have
been left on turned …

The Mother of All Parliaments | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

The Mother of All Parliaments

‘The Mother of Parliaments’
is having a nervous breakdown
as we gather your things
switch off and leave the house.

The trees shake in this storm
as the day shakes in …

Mélopée | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Mélopée

One may speak, one may not speak.
One may speak, one may bespeak.
What if we are two if we are one.

One may see, one may not see.
One may …

Ode to My Leopard Print Coat | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Ode to My Leopard Print Coat

after Neruda

If there must be
winter at least
I will wear this
leopard print
cape of a coat,
thick faux fur
smelling of dried
jasmine and sweat,
drawing friends near
to …