for Jim Gustafson


Last Words

"That's the way it goes."
"More light, please."
"Whose side are you on anyway?"
"Goodnight, sweet Prince."
"Shut the door on your way out."
"You want I should call you a cab?"

Bill Berkson

Cozy Apologia

For Fred

I could pick anything and think of you—
This lamp, the wind-still rain, the glossy blue
My pen exudes, drying matte, upon the page.
I could choose any hero, any cause or age
And, sure as shooting arrows to the heart,
Astride a dappled mare, legs braced as far apart
As standing in silver stirrups will allow—
There you'll be, with furrowed brow
And chain mail glinting, to set me free:
One eye smiling, the other firm upon the enemy.

This post-postmodern age is all business: compact disks
And faxes, a do-it-now-and-take-no-risks
Event. Today a hurricane is nudging up the coast,
Oddly male: Big Bad Floyd, who brings a host
Of daydreams: awkward reminiscences
Of teenage crushes on worthless boys
Whose only talent was to kiss you senseless.
They all had sissy names—Marcel, Percy, Dewey;
Were thin as licorice and as chewy,
Sweet with a dark and hollow center. Floyd's

Cussing up a storm. You're bunkered in your
Aerie, I'm perched in mine
(Twin desks, computers, hardwood floors):
We're content, but fall short of the Divine.
Still, it's embarrassing, this happiness—
Who's satisfied simply with what's good for us,
When has the ordinary ever been news?
And yet, because nothing else will do
To keep me from melancholy (call it blues),
I fill this stolen time with you.

Rita Dove

Lo más natural

Me dejaste -como ibas de pasada-
lo más inmaterial que es tu mirada.

Yo te dejé -como iba tan de prisa-
lo más inmaterial, que es mi sonrisa.

Pero entre tu mirada y mi risueño
rostro quedó flotando el mismo sueño.

Amado Nervo