Turns Out
your man is standing
at the gut of Friday
with a wooden staff
and Old Testament patience
for the procedures
of the library

"I'll look for it"
but who knows the physique
of a day?
the points of its limbs?

and what of discoveries
that happen and happen
like small explosions at the
prosthetics factory?
what of the darkening sky?

it's a tough day for prophets
library computers are down
and the check-out line stretches
all the way to the children's section

your man holds his books and staff
and is still unflappable,
the gut of Friday

you are gesturing wildly
and, as it turns out,
are really Chinese

Now The Lake As A Space Beside You
Duluth, Minnesota
a room with three walls
a vacated seat

you, hand deep
in a bag of potato chips
or semi-sleep or a movie

a new breeze
and quick search for long sleeves

the heart of winter is cavernous,
a warehouse, a place for punk kids
to smoke cigarettes

you are on the pier
and read of broken ships and ice
and do not smoke
and are a visitor and a little chilly
and have no plans to stay