Let’s meet at the beginning of water
Two Poems by Chris Campanioni
Persons of Interest
Pass words between
Us the gap
On each side
Walk the way
Home from memory
Crushed leaves the fall
Of snow on my face
Mercy of the rain
Indifference of the sky
& sea a woman’s
Smile all
These things & what
They do to me
Let’s meet at the beginning of water
& bridge, holding roses in the cold
asian mint, jasmine, leather
the smell of summer storms
sweat & talking trees
or the outline of each
ghost in the dying
street lights, do you see
honeydew moon
dripping thick pale
glow, the lackadaisical black of before
night when the sky
is needles, spilt paint
or cracks in pavement
you keep to yourself or keep
avoiding some people
like the way it feels, the sound
of stillness returning to self
actual factory settings
air after the rain
when all the air
is silk, soft as ripe fruit
flesh, hand in hand
walking under
the bridge again
CHRIS CAMPANIONI’S recent work has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Carbon Culture, Fjords Review, and Prelude. He teaches literature and creative writing at Baruch College and Pace University and new form journalism at John Jay. Find him online at www.chriscampanioni.com.
Photo Credits: John Fergus, Cantilevers Complete, 1889. Courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content program.
SUPPORT INDEPENDENT LIT. If you liked this post, please share it & “follow” us for a free online subscription to LiGHT/WATER.
These poems were published in LiGHT/WATER i — you can buy a print copy here for $5.
