though at least here I can try to manage,
still, something of what I believe once passed
for living: beginning with this landscape
I keep coming to and turning back from-
the least of what's needed - a kind of path,
and any number of down-to-earth stones
for footing, a siding of meadow grass
with, just here and there, a little something
for me to look at on the way: a pool
of rainwater, the odd bird, or a few
day-lilies beside themselves; the weather
at loose ends, and the light, tainted and yet
unspared, served up in generous treefulls
on the grade; all given, like one-sided
collapsible stage-flats that come and go
(don't make a scene!), benefit of the doubt .
David Shapiro
THE QUEEN OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM
I.
She was - an extraordinary
beauty, her skull
a reliquary box
carved with an ancient martyrdom
(went to school, you know, with
Thomas
Beckett Fotherington Hayes (who
later played center for the In–
diana Stars of the old
Intercontinental League»; she
