Matthew Henningsen - 2
Eaves - DroppingTwo rows back on the
Opposite end of a train Car that belches and roars Out a thick, bewildering Ash of pastes and particles You seem to over-hear- “Taney and James – they’re in On it they are in Cahoots. Conspiratorial You might say.” The steel train grinds-grinds- Grinds bolts and bars and Breaks down coal with a Hiss a loud-loud hiss- Of delight. “And a friend told me That a friend of his who Was there heard from a Man that Lincoln had said that He makes a chestnut Horse a horse Chestnut.” Your bolted-down seat Shakes from the pound-pound- Pound of pistons screeching Out steam that clings to The misty panes of pale Glass that you, buffeted and Blockaded, squint through and Through. “Like the roar-roar Of Chicago when Honest Abe’s Nomination came through.” |
Goodbye to All ThatSudden on silent nights I
Think of the long farewell… The wave – The sweet smile hidden Beneath a fading sun… All this Is lost somewhere, this Day of shadows and rain and Whispers said to calm storms That call out on Foreign, frozen sands. Like A petal I picked up once and Stored once in my pocket for The longest time. I Couldn’t let it go. Then, Once on days by cascading Trees once that hung With gray, smiling moss I Found it once again and saw that It had turned once into an Old coin I lost once, long ago, falling Down a well I threw it in For the best of luck. This The farewell, the long goodbye that I had but can’t remember on starry Nights by quiet streams that told Of storms and tables and shouts too Far to be heard, but seen… Always to be seen. |
A Mountaineer's Lament
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Found on a ridge on
A lonely trail. You cannot find it if You looked even so Hard. Down deep tunnels in Quiet mountains. In Trees and lakes in Towns that died long Ago. You cannot Find it. More so think to see It in sunshine mist on half- Cold winter days. The form Far off on hills that almost seem To wave, To us… A lone bird that sits Pensive in the cool Morning air. You Cannot find It even if you looked even So hard, So still. |