Halloween

When I got the call
That grandfather died,
I wore a clown suit,
Big and white with
Blue and red dots,
And a tall clown hat.

Rat-tat-tat-tat.
Tat-tat-tat.

My face was plastered,
Clown enamel white,
Painted red lips,
And a red round nose,
Staring at the mirrors
In the back of the store.

Rip and tore, war and gore.

My boss had told me,
Go and get some rest.
So there I sat,
A thousand clowns
Staring from the mirrors;
Faces laughing, faces crying.

Sighing and crying
And lying and dying.

That night on the news
People were dying.
Machine guns fired,
Rat-tat-tat-tat.
Bullets tore, spreading gore.
Victims lying, sighing, crying.

My grandfather died
On Halloween.
Sadder news we all have seen.
That night, at the party,
Nadia laughed. She said,
Clowns don't go to parties
When their grandfathers pass.

October Morning

Today -
The first cold day;
In the pale light,
The mixed sensation:
Gray sky, cold air,
And resignation.

Yet the leaves cling
Still to the trees;
Just a few turned brown,
Blown down.

Outside -
Breezes sting;
Newspaper kiosks
Through headlines
Speak to the sunrise
While a bird sings:

This week the President,
While waging war,
Won the Peace Prize.

The time is out of joint.
O cursed spite
That ever I was born
To set it right!

Music

The blending
Of the body
And sound
And thought
And feeling
And memory

That took place
Before
Either of us knew
That we would not hear each other,
That we would not see each other,
Again.

Postmodern Mood

The Modern derides
The Enlightment,
Which, in turn,
Derides the Medieval.

I'd rather affect
The Postmodern:
It thinks the derision
The evil.