Between the Spaces

There are only three places in that Europe I want to see—
Holland, Hawaii and the Holy Land.
                                                    —Philip Whalen

Following         one, two…
              any number at all

& a chorus of eucalyptus trees

We adorn our flesh with
              words & pictures here
knowing that they too will
                              dissolve in earth or flame
              when the last breath’s taken

                              Difficult to write when eaten up by the
                              desperation of poverty—
                                                it just doesn’t scan

              check check check

It’s ten minutes to sunset

glass shattering in slow motion

              I’ve seen it myself a blue light that
              gets golden & flares out (green)

some of it parked in the labyrinth, outside
somewhere
                              I want to go back         backwards
the old watusi two-step (not in memory of the
Underworld (earth & sea (LIFTED
However we got there

ocean spills over the edge of the sky

evidently something was lost in the translation
tilted like a gull
above the relentless Pacific

& I meant every word of it