Before a hyacinth blooms
or tulips and daffodils
stick their commonplace faces
into the air,
spring shall be announced
in the impatience of housecats
who try to escape outdoors,
who succeed now and again,
who long to sit by the street
and imagine themselves
suddenly tiger
or lion.
For some
the process
of receiving
a tattoo
is a path
to peace
through pain
The ink
and image
left behind
are only
artifacts
of the journey
Recalling now
the pilgrimages
and trials of
saints
Contemplating
their relics and
the cathedrals
raised around
those finger bones
those locks of hair
All that is
as human
as the etching of
pictures
of carp
and skulls
and flame
and names
we bear
on our arms
Once upon a time
Mickey Rooney
was a young star
who danced sang
and moved like silver’s glint
on the silver screen
He drank a lot
and gambled more
won a lot
lost more
married a lot
divorced a lot
while looking for happily
ever after
Once upon a time
Mickey Rooney got old
and rarely strung together
two good decisions in a row
once he was no longer
young and moving that way
Played bad roles
in bad shows
Played bad characters
But somehow figured it out and
came back and
eventually
didn’t die badly
Maybe even got
a happily ever after
out of it
At the end of my parents’ street
lives a guy who somehow owns
a Rolls-Royce
which once belonged
to Ann Miller
who starred with Mickey Rooney
on Broadway
I hope Mickey Rooney
rode in that car
once upon a time
I think I’m going to
walk over there
one of these days
and touch it
because these days it’s hard
to find even a remote touch
of that old
silver screen
once upon a time
happily ever after
anywhere
Dark Matter 