when an HR rep riffs open mic style
about the emotional toll
of telling people they’re laid off
“…but it’s not about their job performance…”
just a bad turn of finances
not any one person’s decisions,no; like
that great hand o’ the market
and the reinvention of the wheel
the executives hope desperately
(foolishly) will save us
rain hammers against concrete and wood
distant leaves hang on until the wind wins
the seasonal tug-of-war
let the Mary Miller’s lines go
catch them again
walk the Belle decks
whisper to the boiler and pumps
sharing our stories of the past season
the cityscape looms starboard
its light erasing the stars
the wharf grows into an endless plain
and out the portside
the river stretches wide arms
to everywhere
My love, I want to describe to you the waxing crescent rising opposite the setting sun: the waters of the Ohio sitting calm, cut like lead crystal — lovely and unreflective. And the moon, the moon Beloved, cutting open the evening sky, an eternity of pink red orange into another endless river.
