CRISP

Everything looks crisp
in the sunlight of the new day,
even the shadows are smiling at me.

I’m back where the cast off stairs
go down into the water
when the tide is just right
you might think of stepping in to a dream.

On this day forgo Buffett’s cheeseburger
in Paradise for a cheese chili dog
on the Jersey City waterfront.

As long as little girls stop
to pick pretty yellow flowers
blooming in the short grass
the dandelion weeds
will forever find favor.

The pool deck chairs stacked like spoons
huddle against winter, against brackish spray
the onslaught of birds, weak against the wind.

Soon the pool on the river will shed its tough green tarp
and the ugly winter will be shocked to oblivion
and the Avalon tower people will come down and sun
in the chairs on the deck of the pool on the river.

The hollow silver steel longshoreman
eternally facing the long gone pier
through all kinds of weather
he shines on and at night reflects
passing headlights and fading tail-lights
and stands in the shadows of moon beams
and reflects reflected light
from the sun’s reflection on the moon.
The iron man’s burden is heavy
but his yoke is light

- By Anthony Buccino
From ONE MORNING IN JERSEY CITY
Copyright © 2010 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved.