Seven months gone, by and by

Orienting myself was the most important

first step -- the only first step -- before

I started kicking the beige column on my front

porch, watching a black scuff mark

grow

grow

grow like the smoke

from my cigarette as the fire

burns

burns

burns, all these things will

disappear into the North Carolina

night with the ghosts who dance among

the wine and spirits of yesteryear.

Raleigh, NC

1-29-2012

Winter

White paint covers

the graffiti

that used to

be on each wall of the men's restroom

at the coffeehouse where I studied

law and such.

A cold wind blows

down these empty

streets and through leaf-less trees in this town --

my town, alone and missing some-

one so much.

Big blue Texas sky, sun rise in the east, day break

Maybe I can drive you crazy

all the way

from Amarillo to Mexico

and then back, me singing bluegrass

songs and driving the old 1992 Black Bronco

and you kissing my ear --

She smiled, too

There's a girl who the furniture salesman speaks to

this morning -- maybe he, or maybe especially he,

wants coffee and sense of community at breakfast

and before work. Blue, brown, red and beige houses

are in the neighborhood across the street, visible only

because the bare, spiderweb-like trees

lost all their leaves. It is winter here,

(Now, don't forget to wear your coat!

she says as he gets up) so smoke climbs

up and out of chimneys and disappears into the big

Carolina-blue sky like a girl whispering truths

into an ear of a furniture salesman,

"and, by the way,

the grits down the street

are so

much better than the ones here."

Raleigh, NC

1-10-2012