out of step *

being here
disconcerts.

here I am--
an unreal entity in an unreal city.

sometimes i am as eloquent
as a tomb in a merry park.
revellers fall silent in my presence.
and when they walk away,
their footsteps on the gravel path,
dumb with forebodings.

at other times i am a wild lily
that had escaped the gardener’s notice;
and i waltz with the roses and dahlias
to the pitch and fall of the breeze.

it disconcerts...
to be thus
conspicuous.

***

electrified *

i hear the tolling of the bell
the beating of the falcon’s wings...

i quiver expectant—
the steel claws lifting soaring into the clouds weightless swinging
electrified…

*****

Baffled *

Baffled I am all of a sudden—
Why I am I and not you?
Have you ever wondered, dear,
Why you are you and not me?

I feel your fingers twined around mine,
Your pulse throbbing on mine;
But I can’t say which is which—
The beats diffuse as mist into mist.

You open the window and look outside:
I see through your eyes a solitary crow
High on the swaying sparkle of a tree
Preening its feathers warm in the sun.

Its feathers all damp from last night’s rain,
It shakes its fluff in shuddering bouts—
Oh how it itches, itches, beneath the wings!
How nice the sharp beak combing, scratching!

Baffled I am all of a sudden—
Why I am I and not the crow?
Have you ever wondered, dear,
Why you are you and not the crow?

*****