to listen
to you
especially now
this season
speak of others
so self-righteous
quick to judge
without noticing
as Matthew
would say
the log
in your own
eye
other writing
delusion
even in dreams
years later
you are
incomplete
a hole
inside you
what delusion
to think
I could ever
fill it
a definition of freedom
there
by the sea
sun
in his face
his coat
flapping
in the wind
this
his idea
of freedom
he watches
his ship
burn
on the horizon
the emptiness
of the plains
lying
in wait
to cross
6:23am in Izmir: morning prayer
one doesn’t
have
to be
Muslim
to appreciate
and respond to
the early morning
call to prayer
playing darts
someone once said
possibly Vimal
that darts
were like life
and hitting
the bull’s eye
meant something
profound
so okay
sometimes I get
a bull’s eye
but there are
holes
all around
the board
in the wall
which I disavow
the cleaners
I say
must be them
and İbrahim
pretends
during our weekly
games
he doesn’t hear
the disclaimer
in my life
on culture: talking with Chuck
we are on
an oceanliner
called culture
we think
we are
in control
of the direction
but it goes
straight
regardless
of where
we intend
to go
it defines
everything
about us
and we
like humble
passengers
are just along
for the ride
mussels & clams
they call
mussels
clams
but hey
a rose is
a rose
and a mussel
is a clam
there was raggae
playing
reminding me
of Peter Tosh
and Toots
and the Maytals
so you know
I was in
heaven
actually Alsancak
but close
enough
mussels clams
whatever
bring them on
kiddo
there’s a hole
in my stomach
just waiting
to be filled
after hearing wild world sung in the evening in Izmir
she would
come to
my room
at 3am
after nights
out
at bars
in Santiago
to talk
of parents
divorced
her ex
boyfriend
the older
men
who hit
on her
and I
intent
on not
being one
refused
to read
the signs
she laid
for me
thus
letting slip
what could
have been
through
my numb
fingers
İnsanlar plan yapar, Tanrı güler. . .(Humans make plans and God laughs)
so it goes
hearing that laugh
from above
as we below
think we can
forecast
our future
life is
after all
a crap game
with loaded dice
not of
our own
making
what the cat knows
the cat
runs
through rooms
as if
possessed
he must know
something
I don’t
but whatever
it is
he’s not
saying
maybe
it’s time
to get
another cat
Leonard Durso 