The Matriarch:




Your fragility
beckons the closeness of death,
and yet you can’t be--




Untitled (Tanka):



Like congregated
masses dispersed by her heart
I assure you that


nothing will remain as sound.
An exchange of native tongues.





In One Day:



Did you bring your umbrella?
Yes.

Only two flags stood
at half mass
for a hundred and twenty miles.
We wondered who
they were for.

Are you hungry?
No, but I’ll sit with you.

We watched as the procession
in front of us
one after the other
merged to the right.

Are you cold?
No, I’m fine.




All of a Sudden:



All of a sudden,
you seemed less interested.
How were you to know?





For You:



You were brought here
by the graces of stillness
and the sanctification
of death.

You thought you would be saved,
or pardoned
from the look of your father
You thought this

because you read somewhere
that Adonai our God-
Our God, The Almighty One-
told us
promised us
we would never wander

alone.