Awaiting the Wheel

And there were amends to be made.
You don’t leave forever until you die.
Who is an orphan and not an orphan?
There were red berries on the tree that year.
Your sister picked them and put them away.
He told her, They’re no good to eat, watch out.
She replied, I like the way they are red
and stay that way until they shrivel up
and disappear into their own wan skin.
He said other things to other people.
Then he stopped talking. It was easy too.
His heart came back to normal. What was that
like? You turned over on your side and slept
on your heart. You could hear it beating twice
where once sufficed. Then he looked at faces
that did not look back, whom he’d never see
in this life, maybe he would in the next
if it were true the wheel of life followed
death and in time karma its samsara.

                 O well, the stars were out tonight.
You could almost see them from the bayou.
Flicker here. Blinkout there. One even fell.
Wave washed up near one shoe, he would get wet
if he stayed, and so he drew his poncho
tight under his chin and returned to town.
Winter was about to die, where was spring?

(13 February 2011)

copyright 2011 by Floyce Alexander