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Rod 4/16/04 Photo by Billy Iz
A Thought for Today
I dance because I’m happy not because I
know all the steps; I’m still working on that part of my act.
MORE AUGUST LOVE POEMS
Four more poems with August as a setting. And they come from four
separate books.
August 3 / The Lovers Hurry Home
the lovers hurry home now
to shut their doors
the sailors pair off with the little boys
and the fat old women
and you and I are left alone
the policeman walks on through the fog
pacing
unaware
endlessly pacing
a star is falling
everybody’s star is falling
our tower is hazy
clouds make patterns on the ocean
we will go home too
and finally with the liquor gone
the need for sleep forgotten
we will move together
and forget the cruel suburban heat
a star falls
and the world is black and white again
-from “. . . and autumn came”, 1954, 1969
August 5 / Marshall Beach
Down the cliffs we go to Marshall Beach,
stumbling,
smiling,
single
file.
With your skirts above your knees
you bring back can-can dancers
from the Moulin Rouge.
Make the old men happy, little girl,
keep your skirts up high.
Give them more than summer sunshine
to fill their empty lives.
One day twenty years from now
I might join the beachfront line myself.
I hope the young girls will be just as nice to me.
-from “Seasons in the Sun”, 1974
August 6 / The Sea Gets Hungry
The sea gets hungry every August
tired of eating only rivers.
So when the glances end on shore
take your ankles to the water.
There’s a circus turning round somewhere
beyond the summer beach
we will wade along the shoreline
to the Ferris wheel
and kick some stars tonight.
Just for now
let the ocean see your ankles.
The waves are clumsy but kind.
Me too.
-from “A Book of Days”, 1980
To all our northern friends, don’t let the summer heat get to you and
for those reading this beneath the Southern Sun . . . remember, winter
is only temporary. Sleep warm and join Ken on Wednesday for another
edition of This One Does it For Me.
RM 8/9/2004 1:18AM PDST
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