June 1977

They burn you
like the berries of mountain ash in August,
standing by the road,
clearly defined,
Autumnal brilliant, heads
scorched from waiting
in the sun.
How can
you pass them up?
But you do,
and dream each night of a hell,
where you are a hitchhiker,
and no one will ever...

 
I. PULSE
 
Light over the Hudson recovers a Caribbean I have
       never seen.
We list islands: Molokai, Oahu, Kauai; St. Lucia,
       Haiti….
The surf folds tunnels of light
while a hand folds over a wrist (tell-tale pulse),
counting. The long tunnel is a wrist of...