
Cimarron Review Winter 2007
Steps to Get Over
Again yesterday the wind rose & shook the leaves off
The trees throw shadows on the sidewalk
We trudge along avoiding each other
Because sometimes everyone is the enemy even
The guy in the trench coat & black hat lingers over the box
Where they keep the free newspapers taking one out
At the ballpark a baseball took off through
The stratosphere was pierced by a comet with rough edges
And a whole series of constellations you didn’t know
How sharp I was I just got your letter & photograph
Thank you I treasure it as an artifact of the love that never
Was I too effusive or too
Odd how the baseball takes its arc from the moon
If the moon were a motion it would be whoosh
Go the leaves on the sidewalk in a sudden gust
That leaves us all
Breathless is how I felt when I got your letter
And tucked it into the drawer alongside other things
Aren’t so good here since you last
Wrote memory is a funny thing because it makes us
Crazy people in the crosswalk & a marching band on the town hall steps
To get over you are too numerous to mention here
Come the cheerleaders who arrived with the marching band & will leave
On the shoulders of a hundred football players
Are birds of paradise whispering play
Secrets are not fun for the person who doesn’t notice
The sidewalk dappled with leaf-shaped light
A cigarette in winter & it’s a tiny planet in your fingers