Dusk and Beyond
The dusk sky is a gameboard of bats,
everyone’s lost apologies for what
They knew they did wrong but could not find
The words to admit. Homeless things.
The poet’s night shift has me emotional–
The moon’s pendulum scythe swings
Below the tree line and I wake up astonished
To be alive. The poem holds a word
To my throat and the word is your missing
touch. In the world are some animals whose feet
Never touch the ground. Birds who only
Land on the uncertainty of open water.
Just as in you there are poems
that may never land on the tree of language
But whose wingbeats keep you awake,
Whose migration over open space
Turns everyone’s heads though they hear
Only your voice on a quiet morning.
Translations from the English 
A triumph. I know very well about those emotional swings, and my sky at dusk was amazing tonight, with the almost full moon coming up through pink, blue, and lavender.
Happy New Year Jeff!
Thanks! Happy New Year!
Oh God. Gorgeous.
Thank you, Dana. A very happy new year to you and yours! and the birds.
Many thanks for your voice, Jeff. Happy New Year to you and yours.
Happy New Year Ann!
“I wake up astonished” by this poem — absolutely immediate (I was right there last night.) And birds remind me of a book recommendation I made to RO recently; a modern fable by John Crowley about an immortal crow, “Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr”. Not sure how fantastical your tastes run, but I have a feeling you and Crowley are kindred spirits. Happy New Year, JS!
Thanks SJ! John Crowley is one of my favorite writers. I love the Aegypt cycle, especially Love & Sleep, but really all of them. There are some books you can live inside of, or beside them; Moby Dick is like that for me, and the Aegypt books as well. I have not read Ka yet but now am motivated to get it, thanks to you.
I’ve only read “Little, Big” so I’m now about to dive into Aegypt — so thanks to you in turn!!
I really like this poem, Jeff. So many images I find myself stopping to let them flow over and through me. I think I’ll want to read it out loud to my wife
Now that is a compliment. Thank you! And happy new year.