two lombard st octets

(12/31/16)

#1

outlines of nameless trees sketched against puce clouds
spread on the north horizon; the cinderblock

Chinese restaurant reflects its own cerise
& emerald lights, its scarlet doors embossed

with diamond outlines—the doughnut shop sign,
rounded triangle embellished with faded

sunbeams, overlooks dormant roses: throbbing
ambulance lights accelerate past it all


#2


what an array of nails & staples piercing
the utility pole! pavement radiates

gold flecks from afternoon rain into frigid
interminable evening—next to

a dentist’s office a small metal trellis
wrapped in what you may remember as yellow

roses: past the lone false cypress, one yellow
dragon coils in front of the restaurant’s blinds



Jack Hayes
© 2017