the silence after the roar
so delicious into another morning

M for motion
the sound of sloshing through

water before
everything

welcome to the wreck
a flow diverted / empowered

repurpose everything
including the planet

to make way for more
intelligent life

the last smoke break
beside the loading dock

years and years ago
a blessing to break

another cycle of addiction
another moment to remember

to exhale
at least occasionally

they’re saying hello
to skyway level arrivals

and I’m still holding onto
this good-bye

the way I refuse to release
the impossible farewell wave

to my father seven years after
sinking his ashes

into Connecticut dirt
I am so many parts

Connecticut dirt
the rest what Massachusetts offers

in glacial till
and longshore drift

The Connecticut and Charles
never cross paths

a 72-mile gap
in the story

remnants of wool mills there
flour here

a ruin resurrection
and that view

of the greatest river
this country has to give away

I will feel the power
of those falls long after this

it’s not a competition
I walk through downtown

end to end twice a day
going on 17 years

cut it in half
ants scatter to freedom

a new pattern
to carve into the chaos

I stand on the balcony
8 stories up

the ruin courtyard below
the Mississippi ever beyond

and ask one more time
what are you so afraid of

the fall or the jump
or the door locking behind you