Camera Obscura
A tiny catchlight of saliva
shows as she opens her mouth.
In the moment of recognition
details of the glitzy room
slip from focus: she stares
out of the shadow of her hat —
a wide-brimmed, red, feathery affair —
aware of what is rehearsed
in the encounter, undaunted,
prepared for that alone.
Winter Nights
For Sangmi
Too bad the waste
of these winter nights
can't be saved up, placed
inside the folds
of a counterpane —
a half-remembered thing,
kept in the linen closet —
cut perfectly to fit
by the knife of spring.
Backlit
A species of
survival
assembles its
colored wings.
Something something
in the lanced air.
The unforeseen branch
syntax flutter
of what wasn't
and then is.
They use it
like a meaning:
it means
they are alive.
Necessary Sorrows
Lorenzo died today. Or yesterday.
The obit was forwarded to me. Out
of the water small waves tent into
peaks of undulant light. All
you can see in Algeria is the green
immediacy, the mule and the wagon,
the war. Affection is a wandering
soul. A girl ends up being tall and
intelligent, with memories. If you
talk to yourself, don't forget her.
————————
WILLIAM BENTON
Backlit
Pressed Wafer, 2017
