Omens
A cat on a windowsill fills
the glazed eyes of the house with meaning.
Twigs lie in the dust, curved and peeled bare
like the bleached bones of a small animal.
A painted steel fire-escape curves
like the spine of someone turning to look.
Wind ruffles thick ivy,
flashing sunlight in fitful morse.
A tree clings to its dead leaves
with the blind clutch of a sleeper.
The old man in his lawn chair
is content with empty hands.
(Previously published in Contemporary Verse 2 magazine, Summer 2009 issue)
Night Job
As we walk to the car,
the charcoal sky
reaches down
and swallows streetlamps –
air, plush with water,
paints windshields silver –
here and there
birds make dawn
in the dark.
(Previously published in Island Writer magazine, Volume 8, Issue 2, Winter 2010)