Gerry LeFemina
So steady it falls–
……………..no thunder, no sun patches
………………………………………punching through, just rain
& the streets just wet
……………..though some romantics might claim
……………………………………..they have been washed clean:
ask a homeless man
……………..how he feels about the weather–
…………………………………….It sucks, he says. Sucks.
He leans, sheltered
……………..near the token booth, shaking
…………………………………….water from pants legs,
a particular dance
……………..even I’ve done on such days.
…………………………………….Umbrellas open
like kites. People climb
……………..upstairs and seem honestly
…………………………………….surprised by the rain
because they’ve subwayed
……………..a few miles, maybe an hour.
…………………………………….The garbage that missed
the can is glued now
……………. to sidewalks & taxis toss
…………………………………….spray from deep potholes
& nothing I need
…………….to accomplish can wait for
…………………………………….another forecast
although gargoyles
…………….on the Chrysler building
…………………………………….seem renewed, glossy
this way in streetlight
…………….& mist–giant, art deco
……………………………………car hood ornaments.
They must’ve seemed so
…………….hopeful 75 years
……………………………………back. I try to feel
that hope, looking up,
…………….penitent, my hands pocketed.
………………………………….. Every nearby car–
their windshield wipers
……………clear the glass a few seconds
…………………………………..then again leaving
curved streaks of water.
……………The honking taxis cry Ho-
………………………………….sana! Hosana!
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Gerry LaFemina’s most recent book is the prose poem collection Figures from The Big Time Circus Book/ The Book of Clown Baby. His first collection of short stories, Proofreading America (Marick Press) is forthcoming in 2009, and his next book of poems, The Vanishing Horizon (Anhinga Press) will be published in 2010. Currently he directs the Frostburg Center for Creative Writing at Frostburg State University where he is an Assistant Professor of English.
