Two Octets from Fremont St

fremont st octet #2

one oak leaf rises on a gust then spirals
by lifts & falls by floats & dives to the street—

against a weathered fence the beautyberry’s
purple profusion & slender lilacs in

green leaf—three paperback maples in a row,
crimson foliage shuddering; the cypress

boughs sweep to east & to west in erratic
rhythm: lone crow on the wind past the gray house


◦    ◦    ◦


fremont st octet #3


black storefront seen through catalpa’s cordate leaves;
gone yellow today & sere despite hard rain—

bicycle tires slung over the gas service
pipes strapped down with an inner tube: hollow shells,

debilitated: black leather loveseat drips
under pine boughs, free scrawled large on white paper—

past a power pole transformer the rainbow’s
half arch splits clouds: a single crow wings toward me



Jack Hayes
© 2016


11/19/16-11/20/16