deviated septum
choking the breather

inhale through the nostril
clear the sinus

better breathing
takes practice

respiration and inspiration
conspire and perspire

Breathing (excerpts)

air is composed
with the greatest of ease

raspiegel 2

raspiegel 2,
originally uploaded by Ten Penny Players.

bordered

Green shades of ocean crested white . . .
(words pour
or slowly seep through the
mind) . . .
form constant
waters bordered by
beach.

Harbor
all boats
here:
come from
Greece or registered
Liberia --
wreckage,
barges,
floating
salvaged
boats.

Boats remain
here:
yesterday
a vessel
abandoned by its crew
in the Hudson;
Hudson was abandoned by crew . . .
set afloat with his son
in the Hudson.

Waters
turn idly
by docks,
splashing ambivalent
comments, humored by
bone white foam
about
bobbing
hulls.

Awaiting
and using
time to explore
port
(sailors
on Forty Second Street
out seeking liaisons),
bringing
some short visitation,
a vulnerability,
experience
hardened by
previous
ports
and aboard ship . . .

Moored to
docks:
voyage has been
chartered, maps are
better, and
the sea will
react the
same to hulls
that cut across her
surface.

Ports for vessels
of commerce,
coexisting
attending to
dilemma of their
own edification; what
matters what tides
bring ashore?
oil . . . dead
animals . . .
ships . . .

Masts gathered
along shoreline
one beside another beside
another and the city
grew: London, Amsterdam,
New York.

this is not
the end of the world
which all keep in
view as they
search the seas.

the harbor
master wants to know
my intentions,
"how long do you plan to
berth here?"

(harbor
forgotten dreams
here);

children . . .
subway system
park with its
castles and rambles
and lakes and
playground . . .

I look
on the tarred
road

I have brought
my ship into
port

Rain continues.
Traffic moves
and we read the news.

City
keeping us company.

Have to
move and make way
for another to
dock where I am.

Looking like rain
today here at harbor,
birds chirp,
my future in this port
seems most uncertain
with all these protestations
of love.

So far I have survived the storms.

Ships
enter the harbor
and
take away
what they find.

Viaducts carried
water across
land. Carried upon
waterways
were cargoes
of commerce.

voyagers crash
thrown by
currents unpredictable

it seems there
are unexpected
harbors in the
New World...

A
clipper
catching hold
of the
wind: