5086. HEAVENS, I TRY

HEAVENS, I TRY

And don't the marks of Hadrian's Wall and

his memories work together as one : answer

I try, though I do often miss. Mr. Kurtz, he

dead; and so now is my horror.

-

Rows and rows of apple trees  -  row and rows

all in a row. We start out as easy friends and become

encumbrances only later : to each other, reflections

of the selfsame self to be recognized in another.

The sing-song quality of things sways us, easy we

move as if pushed by the wind, or something sap-like 

flowing through our own trees and limbs.

-

I am hearing language between two people: 'fifteen

years ago in Costa Rica'  -  exchanging their nods and

tongues  -  'I can say it all now, but I couldn't then; and

now I can say it like that but I can't think it in English.

What does that mean?What does 'chula' mean?

Am I favoring something wrongly?'

-

There is a tall girl running the place  -  in black,

dispensing beverages and coffee in a new day's early

light, only now dawning. She handles tongs like

delicate tools. 'We had our first fight,' she says, 

'last night.' The two girls' laughter is mystifying

to me but  -  heavens  -  I try.