Two Octets from Albina Ave

albina ave octet #4


rose hips cluster orange under the stop sign;
the ornamental cherry, green leaves curling,

watches over anemone’s pale blossom
here where the avenue slopes to a curve—down

the street lily magnolia catkins gesture
quiescent in a standing meditation

catching morning light’s fragments—silver & gold
foil pinwheel spinning beside deadheaded roses


◦    ◦    ◦


albina ave octet #5


garden shed clad in Oregon license plates;
behind the wire fence dovetailed boxes tumbling

through weeds & trailing vines; no bus scheduled
for a quarter hour; the pale sun sinking &

rising from cloud currents—apples suspended
over the fence; on high boughs, white flesh exposed

by jays; on low, red gravity gathered for
the drop: all raw autumn all this letting go



Jack Hayes
© 2016


11/18/16