sw00238s-br.d6.yellow

Sets: set 2 -
 Birthday Ribbons - Day Six

          "1-16-77      yellow"


          This day I begin
            year 37
                    toward heaven
            though I'm
              someplaces told
            I'm a
              hell-caught fool:
          somewhy   it seems/
                      we/ 
                           just drift
                purgatories,                   
            our left
              shoulders
                angled against
                  door jambs,
            our eyes
              full of nothing--
                their powers
              drawn back
                upon
            themselves
          as the energies of
          black-hole stars,
            our          minds
                so lost
              in the mazes
              of loves
            it's likely we'll
                  never
                consummate
          (despite desires)
              we have to ask
            that if     they're
                          seen
              somewhere
            they should please
            be led back,
                  thank you:

          And today is Sunday
            & ice-age cold
              and bright
              only
          in the snap-
                      ping wind,
          and the Sabbath
          commandment
          we are keeping
                here
            at home:
                     and I still
          would celebrate
            to the riffs             
          a fireplace warmth
              forgetful of
                the -60
                  wind
                  chill
              & the charges to
                    fill a mold:

                Crows
                    bump
                through the
                bleak
                    gusts
          while, snug
          in the poignant caves
          of their choosing,
          bears dream:

                          As
          I celebrate,
            I celebrate:
          had I gone
                to church
           I would have
                celebrated
       thus:
       were I to make love,
          I would celebrate
                          so:
          if I'd go
          early
          to the inn
          to talk & drink,   
        to laugh,                   
            to relax, 
          I/ must      soon
          go to bed  
            to celebrate:
          if I heat               
                this chair
            tapping for
              riches,
                    these acts
                    will be
              my celebration:

          In the freezer
            waits
                  ice
                  cream;
          in the refrigerator,
                  cherry pie:

          I am a man,
                      a kid,
            a corpse,
                      a spirit,
          an insatiable
              spy:
                if you try me,
          you will find
          my
              tolerance long,
          my patience
          lengthy,
                  though
                  I curse
                  & spit:
          my need   
          to be loved and
          to love
                a frozen
                grandiflora,
                  a present
                  forever,
                    ribbons
                    constantly
                            loosened,
          bowed,
                 & twirled &
                 hurled
          in the blank air.

  


~ 
Brian A. J. Salchert