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poems by Tony Foley
G..
for myself & city
[ An attempt to hide, as when apology ]
An attempt to hide, as when apology shoots through the body; angelic, an opening in the breathless place
[ So is it with us now, conscious of all loss; ]
So is it with us now, conscious of all loss; this august sunbright that heaven without identifies how sacred; the city was on its knees by midnight
[ Of the earth itself; a city saturated in light; filtered ]
Of the earth itself; a city saturated in light; filtered through the sieve of a child: the body we became; breathe: monument, in which wounds we make shelter
[ In this town: the glass all broken—when you said it; ]
In this town: the glass all broken—when you said it; the place you left this for, and again, exhaustless or the places you’ll leave this for—and often enough God welcomes his victims; another still-calming storm
[ A paraphrase of absences, or quietude: the blooms against ]
A paraphrase of absences, or quietude: the blooms against everything inside me; brief & unstoppable, like light, like lost in this breathing city, again; or, am I the one who hushes up; infirmatory, a counterfeit stillness; just another verge; unmoving in the guarded places, patience: unresponsive &
[ The common enough —never enough, all of springtime in ]
The common enough —never enough, all of springtime in bouquet: all the portraits of the blind; to be a part of one the weary door & sounded knock; another desperate reach to croon & own excuse: sheltered wind & shaken holy, me good nameless thing among my secret people
[ A complete alignment of raindrops, the city’s inseparable ]
A complete alignment of raindrops, the city’s inseparable uncertainty: & along concrete, & beach: these lonely regions— emptyhanded & anonymous: another skyless people —are bone, are struggl-
ing with happi ness; quick, go Surrender this flood, mouth Communicate my quiet, quiet love
[ Somewhere between fracture & boundary: mercy, thanks; an open, ]
Somewhere between fracture & boundary: mercy, thanks; an open, low, & sedated so long after (& yes, I knew how it felt; like serenade, these last four seconds of sun & shade; it meant something to be anything but alone: & as if suturing the fugitive) & yes, I do want to be alive
[ Without knowing rupture— what awaited me: the dark ]
Without knowing rupture— what awaited me: the dark agony of that peace, absolute & shining with form & night no longer shaking its defenseless sleep above me
& dark moving the solid light
[ Mostly unconscious, result of seven or eight; my city’s original name ]
Mostly unconscious, result of seven or eight; my city’s original name splints & bones: both the free & compacted hurt, the people nearest the concrete —that primal & interior lifted into different lights; always swapping one crutch for the next; & body: garden our frequent bruises
[ Church doors & footprint, some residence (where the city had been ]
Church doors & footprint, some residence (where the city had been; displaced; the voiceless whatever, known prisoner inside a smaller city; the world was small like this, once) centered beneath a sheltering night
[ Dimmers on light switch, pacemaker off; arrhythmia: lethal & even ]
Dimmers on light switch, pacemaker off; arrhythmia: lethal, & even more pathetic: that cemetery of remain; this swollen breath soon so gently over, see – how nothing changed: flowers by the photographs, & heavy as delay; the dead are still dying; the world is not
[ Fabric of my silence, breath hung to dry: a notable pulsation, ]
Fabric of my silence, breath hung to dry: a notable pulsation, the light of other lives; destitute, in the distant sonata, or until love patiently washes — still — & sound of the moon swing open: teach this heart to close Move with me now through that last forgotten atrium
[ Patience, faith: the same struggling outbound; the city’s faded if ]
Patience, faith: the same struggling outbound; the city’s faded if survived at all: a soft falling shower; & fiber heart of mine, shed another light, go on
—& go.