Coyote in a Cage

The wildness of the eyes
Gets first attention
The refusal to recognize the bars
It crashes into with each restless movement--
It darts from one corner to the next
As if speed and will can dissolve
The tiny enclosure
Imposed on its world,
The hope that strength given
Will pull down Philistine walls
Though the desparate captive be sacrificed.

The Missing Sister

Postcards she sends
Unexpected
From a distant city
Wishing you were there
She says
But you can't follow
Can't trace her steps
Your job, your family
The daily obligations
You've pushed her away
Yet see her face in every
Mirror--your delightful, banished twin
You save each card
Until you burn them
Trying to forget.

On Hopper's "From Williamsburg Bridge"

They are not there now
But they were ghosts even then,
The buildings like a stage set
Aged brick with rooftops sharply etched
Seemingly forever in the sun
And the stilled clouds.
We can’t know what was behind
The shaded windows, the dark enclosures
Unreachable to the eyes
We can’t even know the lone figure visible,
Almost a phantom,
Gazing from a window.
But is it endurance or resignation
To live out a ghostly loneliness
Like those old buildings
In their moment of light?

The broken compass
The lone tree
The ticking clock
That tolls the bell
What refuge in the selfish mind?

Toy Gun

Toy gun
That with a click
Unfurls a painted flag:
BANG!
Good for shooting invaders
Conjured by the mind
Good for idle play
But, alas...
No childish thing can save.