Poem: Apologia

Apologia

Perhaps I had forgotten to tell you

why I do this

out here on the steel railings of a coffeehouse

chairs stacked up on tables

brushing down the deadbolt click of a

chapter’s final word

the easy snap of a dictionary.

I need this

I need this more than

solid blue numbers in a checkbook

a young girl’s smile

a cereal with fiber in it

Grant me one small brake on the

steady slip of time

a night-fed gap where teenagers

kick coffee cups around the parking lot

where tomorrow’s mist hangs high

just across the road, patient as a hawk

and your thoughts settle down so heavy and warm

that your eyes cannot quite focus.

And so, if I had forgotten to tell you

that place, tonight

I was there

and my head still rings with sound.

First published in Eclectic Literary Forum

(Tonawanda, New York)

From the collection Great Showtunes of the American Stage  

 

Photo by MJV