Watching Ring-Billed Gulls Perform a Pas De Deux on the Second Morning of the New Year

one is vocal enough to tally the pluses and minuses
piled up in the past thirty-four hours, the other
fruitlessly plucks up stringy seaweed waiting
in the non-breeding season for a sign of grace

fullness, full circle, they drop their offerings
share hesitant nods and revert to benign optimism

I eavesdrop, hover like pizza delivery drones
thumb through the field guide
“Habitat: lakes, bays, coasts, piers, dumps,
plowed fields, sewage outlets, shopping malls,
fast-food restaurants.”

it doesn’t mention the kitchen tables
crowded congregations, productivity
seminars, holiday festivities and role playing
which have been observed but not documented

the clumps of seaweed are a ruse meant to
divert my unsanctified observations

I stand unrequited

you watch them on a grainy
surveillance video, imagine
Machiavellian machinations

[RK, 1/2/2021]


Good Words

one must not belabor the obvious
one must not apply a tourniquet
one must not rush headlong into
one must not post memory lists
on the refrigerator door

mark how the birds make you anxious
mark the lack of reality carried
in social media messages

mark the easy passage of seasons
mark how the days grow longer
in increments measured in shadows

[RK, 1/2/2021]


Is That Really What You Meant to Say?

I push against your esteemed
established relationships
with inappropriate words
gestures are lost in staccato
conversations, they crave
drip-dry homilies and
placid notarized agreements

I push (don’t push)
I push (don’t push)
I push (don’t push)

[RK, 1/2/2021]