Whose Serendipity

Months go by, plans
straightened and stacked
against a retaining

wall. One strong June blast
of warm air, and she’s off
her stoop, she’s scrambling

to recollect. The reshuffle
comes out as red as
an improvised sunset

backing off a river.

Migration Mythology

If what I’ve heard is true, before there was an Ellis Island,
my great grandfather walked from Liberty

State Park on the Jersey side of the Hudson
to the east side of the Connecticut River

to settle into a milling
life. I can relate to that. If

what I’ve heard is not true, I can relate
to all those letterboxers who’ve lost their find count.