Cement Guitar

    All morning I've remembered St. Ignacio's bruise¹，

    jaundiced seagulls over Quonset， November

    and the gross white sky. Days so long

    you walk home fifteen miles from the restaurant.

    Same waitress every day of your life

    and she never remembers your allergies².

    Nothing on the map but scone³ crumbs⁴

    and a drop of tea. Just manifold food and a dead request

    to bury the last of your seven receipts.

    Mother of foster-wit， father of straw，

    I can see how silence takes the place of those

    who cut their thoughts in stone before they need them.

    Stone is the past， and the past is a form of flattery.

    Last winter， groups of children sent letters

    in sadness for the late Christmas suicide.

    Addressed to those who managed the fishery，

    who named the docks and decided⁵ the colors of unfinished boats，

    the only way to read them was alive.

    To think out loud about those children's names

    was to forget what you meant by dying.