Keith Moul
After a High Pulse

When you left
it was obvious we
hadn’t said enough;
or we both had said
too many things wrong.
I turn to the high flyers,
eagles and hawks
circling nearby, pestered
by smaller birds,
not to understand,
but in awe to practice contrition.
Had you stayed, you
would have taken it out
on the soil; and you’ll be back,
all right, nearer to dusk,
wanting energy.

Often this happens
after a high pulse,
even in rain.

Experience

So much time is gone.
Like air above hot runways
his spirit memories sizzle;
as with oranges he squeezes
for sweet juice, sweet juice.

Talk is gone; so he explains
the hollow pockets in air;
absent time explains
echoed voices in his mind.

Hollow opportunity echoes
in his speculative cave. She
cannot redeem an instant
that popular wisdom disdains.

A hill crests.
Beyond waits a precipice.
Carrying himself erect

he runs up the hill
with baggage he knows is regret.

He plunges from living
into history.

_ _

Keith Moul has been publishing poetry and photography for almost 45 years. Two recent chapbooks are The Grammar of Mind (Blue & Yellow Dog Press) and Beautiful Agitation (Red Ochre Press). In 2010, a poem written to accompany one of his photos was a Pushcart nominee. His full-length collection of paired poems and photos, Reconsidered Light, was released in 2012 by Broken Publications.

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