Photo by Edward Cohen.

As I recover behind a shed
panting chill sweat
I recall the many times at night
that I ran here to confront
the black and white skeletons
of the trees behind the school,
a wall of mangled bones
like the end of the world.

Photo by Edward Cohen.

Photo by Edward Cohen.

Before he left town she promised her heart
Should souls display doubt while bodies apart,
He shouldered his bags with his witness of G-d;
What began with fierce passion now ends with a nod.

Flashing glow,
outside our children
          visit shrines,

Soft rain,
a child in the wooden gate stall
          forgotten.