Poetry Magazine, Jeremiah Moore, Holiday 2000-2001

Poetry Magazine

Jeremiah Moore

USA

A Last Look

with a lingering look, the turn back happens
all of the last life’s leavings beckon
from the golden glow of reminisce,
minus the dust and heartache.
but time is a one-way street,
and even looking backwards
it’s the direction of today, and today, and today
sharp turns and detours,
until the only view of yesterday
is from over the hill,
as it fades into the distant mist.

Thin Ice

i stand just outside the door on that clear cold night
my breath in a hasty cloud leaves me
as i face the truth, again
of what happens, again
when you stretch out and rest the weight of love,
like testing the thin ice on the edge of the pond
hearing the crack you look down
and staring up through the blurry ice is a face
and it once was the face of your beloved, gone cold now,
not uncaring, just past caring,
and that’s when the breath leaves your body,
stolen by the falling whirlpool in your soul,
a missed last step with no floor beneath,
and then i turn, and turn, to the sky and face the implacable beauty,
the diamond sharp flutes of stars in gauzy rapture,
torn by forces unimaginable,
gravity’s weight in my chest

Bike On The Roof

there is a february i don’t want to remember
the cold is not in the air, it’s where i live.
i see a small bike on the roof of a house,
as i drive down the highway,
and i know it was thrown there in anger,
and will not be healed.
there are parts of me thrown on the roof,
from the road they look so small and tragic
against the size of the trees and the sky,
and the sky only a fraction of what is.
but what i feel is the cold, gritty roughness of the shingles, the smear of mud on the concrete below,
the bike, waiting for love.

Pursuit Of Happiness

suspended disbelief crafted from shreds of firmament
hanging up like a lie on the phone
past efforts fail to conceal
the star shredded black wheels, untold and countless.
a ripple of madness,
sheer orneriness
malpractice ablated, peeled from sanities core
round and round, the spinning scatters shavings
half-truths fall carelessly, strewn with affected abandon
feigned interest
a taste of scorn.
probable cause;
pursuit of happiness