Where it begins, and where you leave it,
that is a question
that’s more than coordinate systems can say
Oh brittle amalgam, oh unhappy mongrel,
how I long to hold you
in your contradiction and your size.
These are overwhelming times and territories that aren’t on the map
Visions of horizon lines get lost in the creases that fall in our laps
But I remember this place
Seersucker shorts, Cincinnati, Ohio
Coney Island in Southwest
and a diner off US-15
A seat at the counter
for those who stood up at Woolworths
I strain to hear those whispers in the same place