A Kind of Opening

Published on YES POETRY

Come and see

a violet petal peeled

brown, a violent wind

in prairie grass,

marine fog lifting

from the tops of palms

for hours in the morning.

Come and see

how I have laid down carefully a mat

and invited a bell to ring,

arranged the makings for recovery,

lit incense and color-coded loose leaf

for subject and reference.

Most days there is not

a single thing out of place.

Inside these four-square walls,

I imagine a fire as large,

contains the cosmos,

have a notion that a notion

is only ever that.

Burn up your dreams.

Come with me, I can see

mountains, and in them

the sea and stars, my personality,

all space, nothing at all.

Where Have They Taken You?

by Anthony Timperman

There is not a yellow leaf to be found
where once we stood witness
with a mean screaming spirit,

Play acting every role
we needed just to feel alive.

As corrupted youth-
banded together under pretense of love
just beyond a symbol of love-
we found out together
we could survive it.

A single tree
with yellow leaves I knew was right here,
now just gone.