In the start
of the voluptuous cumulus
moonrise
as if chemically
enhanced
with silver
or gelatin
recollection fires
in clusters
from family outings
in the transitional
seasons
of dry
cold
outcroppings
on the steep shoulders
of the Temblor Range
over the alternating
slopes
of chamise
and crippled oak
of still air
after weak storms
before the fog forms
in coastal
valley towns
how temperature
and moisture
alter scents
of smoke
decomposition
and clothing
…
Driving the lights
into the fields
of the university
showing the taste
of a brief shower
a few degrees
above freezing
there is an instant
of glow
over the inland mountain
from distant lightning
then the brisk walk
through feminine
night-youth
to the class
and here
sitting by
the crescent moons
faintly reflecting
the girls
of his childhood
in their remnants
of Mexico
the Philippines
Portugal
and Ireland
with their hip
adaptations
Creole
opens her cupid’s
lips
to speak
of works
and strategies
while
the nonverbal
minds
find nests
of honey
to reach into
having learned
the ways of bees
and how
they let you
take their waxy combs
without stinging
if only you don’t betray
your fear
…
Asleep
holding
the waist
of
love
and
care
sympathy
and
concern
bodily
acceptance
freely
given
lust
has
become
irrelevant
…
At work
rolling down
the window
a calm
blue woman (Ehvair)
calls to him
and finding her later
to talk
her eyes
are so large
he could fall into them
…
Asleep again
now
she is Demeter
merged
in a
synthesis of loves
midnight
surrounded
by the color
of
full moon dusk
after the sunset
has completely gone
She
starts to walk away from him
and he
interrogates her
trying
his best
to
ascertain
the problem
And
she turns back
to him
and shows him
the buttons on her
shirt
over her left breast
where she has
cut away
the extra
fabric
that had held it
He is
worried now
a
concern
as
dark
as she
that
the season
could
take
such a thing
and
leave
only black lesions
like
the leaf scars
on the
branches
after the sunset flesh
has
dried
and been carried
away
to the ground
…
Rising
from his limbs
and torso
held
down
by the reindeer quilt
He tells Aiks
it is snowing
and goes
to wake his children
He tells them
of the
history
of
weather
and
how
they
are witnesses to it
because
it
seldom snows
here
by the
low coast
with its damp
marine air…
…But
when he wakes
the
sky is clear
and
the lawns
are
white
with
frost
