here
as the future
plays forward
in time
and time is something
that doesn’t stand still
there is no delaying
inevitable change
as I limp forward
toward my tomorrows
change
here there
once again
change rears its head
as the horizon shifts
as I shift
my gaze here there
old habits
an old habit
when things seem
to be going
as planned
and life smiles
on your wary heart
even the cat
sensitive to these things
notices change
in the airchange
knocking on wood
an old habit
when things seem
to be going
as planned
and life smiles
on your wary heart
even the cat
sensitive to these things
notices change
in the air
from a line by Kong Shao An, with my thanks to Mary Tang for her translation
the door open
one foot out
one hovering in
a longing to go
yet a yearning
to stay
there on the edge
of change
on teaching immigrants/foreign students
you changed our lives
they said
as they hugged me
then I thought
the change happened
in me too
the edge of this world
poised
on the edge
of this world
waiting
for the winds
of change
on the cusp of January: approaching the new year in Izmir 2015
with trepidation
remembering
my mother
whose taste
for January
was less
than palatable
sour
in one’s mouth
fear
mixed with
anxiety
too many
deaths
in this month
a realization
later come by
and as I stand
facing the end
of one year
the beginning
of another
honor those ghosts
who stand
with me
this night
and drink
enough whiskey
to forget
my name
so as to
sally forth
blameless
from darkness
into the light
Leonard Durso 