Tom Hibbard
gesshom
Assent 25
the trees’ secret message
indecipherable winds
cannot legally be claimed
I’m not sure I know
why perfected stars shineyou can’t alter what I am
you have forged the name
of the judge of letters
your telescope showing sleepy half moons
glistening off wavelets
in the lagoon’s cooling breezeoverstated news making me miss
the cove of hope
the dainty litigation
that breaks rude potslit palely by a well-trained chorale
high in the rib-cage of Creation
the mythic Seven Sisters
try to find a way back
from lyric feesthe lights of Tirzah on the symphonic shore
the blinking lights of radio towers
will not leave anyone out
will not let injustice sneak bywhy are you elsewhere in being here
can you say what you think happened
will we meet again
unprodded in asking directly
to accommodate for the first time
through the diaphanous filter
our briny principleswork is to not be swayed
by frogs croaking in weeds
celebrating dead branches of the fire
morning the color of apprehension
when forbearance is revealed
shivering in the coldI want to be like a shelter
in the valley where I grew up
I want to be as famous
as its unspoiled beautyyou are at home amidst my searching
you are an outcast in your own land
you have connected the plenitude of dots
unwitting accomplice to restlaughing tall grasses quilted
with meteors of agreement
serenaded in imaginary outposts
by fruitful divergence
I begin to think of you
in the way you asked
anger isn’t lasting
our being side by side
can’t hide the thistle’s symmetry
close has become far away
and far away close
joining in the somnolent current
the belittled universe
going in opposite but
identical directions