Monday, June 24, 2013

Lost Luggage

Yes, my suitcase arrived in  Florence 3 days after I did.


            Lost Luggage
What was so carefully packed
has been carelessly misplaced:
your life, already reduced
to essentials, has been left
behind or flown to some
other destination,
so you end up where you want
to be but without everything
you need – waiting,
waiting, waiting
in a foreign airport
for the ever moving baggage
belt to bring you some bit of home. 

Monday, June 17, 2013

Missed Connections

A storm in D.C. caused us to miss a flight in Paris, but we got where we were going anyway.




   Missed Connections
To be late is to be lost:
the plane departed,
the job filled,
the face turned
toward someone else –
until you find
you’re right on time
for whatever happens
next. 

Monday, June 10, 2013

At the Uni-Mart in Philipsburg PA

Here's another short vignette from a trip through Pennsylvania.


  At the Uni-Mart in Philipsburg, PA
a blonde clerk named Destiny
sells cigarettes and dispenses
smiles to teenage boys
with fake i.d.’s
all dying for a date.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Hillside Cemetery

 Here's one brief image from a drive through Pennsylvania and New York.  (A couple more may follow next week.)


                 Hillside Cemetery
The worn headstones struggle to stand upright
on the steep slope while the bodies beneath them
slowly luge their way feet first toward eternity.