Ken Wagner

01-27-09

Geese cross
A grey
damp sky

I see
my breath, but where
are the birds?

I see
fewer birds
These days

Seagulls scan
the black bay marsh
Mussel shells

swimming dust
in the light that cracks
the window

By my friend Craig Peritz. I haven’t seen him in 20 years.

I stop
The rabbit
stirs

The tractor sits
A frozen field
of wheat

Plastic flutters
In the tree’s
slow breeze

“Peanuts won’t sprout
in that patch of dirt”
The old man smiles

Today was my birthday, and I got a new president.

The moon’s low
open orange eye
waits

Rain
drains down loud everywhere
Family