{"id":26279,"date":"2020-10-06T20:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T00:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsbj.com\/sorabji\/?p=26279"},"modified":"2020-10-06T20:00:03","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T00:00:03","slug":"just-like-feathers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wsbj.com\/sorabji\/2020\/10\/06\/just-like-feathers.html","title":{"rendered":"Just Like Feathers"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spotted this joyfully banal poem on the Ed Koch\/Queensboro Bridge today. At first I thought it was a Descanso in memory of the smiling woman in the faded background, who might have died on this spot. It appears to be a palpitation-inducing love story. It’s good to see poetry up on the bridge, however bad. This was easier to read from the photo than in person. I had to stand in the bike lane to get this photo, so that meant either certain death or certain malignant anger and fuck you<\/em>s from any oncoming bicyclists, cursing and flipping off a lowly pedestrian for violating their sacred lane. I survived.<\/p>\n

\"Just

Just Like Feathers<\/p><\/div>\n

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JUST LIKE FEATHERS<\/h2>\n

Joyous we snared a room as neighbors
\nYou perpetually far out of my class
\nEverything you did, all in grace
\nDid it all come easy or merely an act<\/p>\n

If only you turned once more
\nI swear I noticed you every day
\nSo I thought I swore I did
\nEvery glance like the middle of May<\/p>\n

On frostbitten winter mornings
\nYou shone through cloaked in rose
\nLosing myself in the warmth of your light
\nEnchanted, tucked close in the back row<\/p>\n

What a strange new sensation
\nBetween the bells I bluffed aloof
\nYet each day we parted
\nYou’d visit my heart in solitude<\/p>\n

Silly in our youth, then suddenly
\nWishing hands pinch the brakes
\nTimes up for today but it’s okay
\nTomorrow comes to ease the aches<\/p>\n

Quick recess the heat on the rise
\nAll celebrate my sorrow begins
\nBut when summer is gone
\nI can see you again<\/p>\n

A return to the start, finally
\nCompanions follow the autumn hue
\nDrifting away just beyond reach
\nUnwilling to grasp whatever comes new<\/p>\n

Two three four, then five
\nAnd on it went \u2018til we walked in gold
\nPeople shifted in and out. and still
\nThe sight of your smile never grew old<\/p>\n

Where did you go, I wonder
\nOnce we weren’t always around
\nWhere have you gone. I cry
\nHow I’d love to give you ground<\/p>\n

A whisper here and a holler there
\nMention of you came as good news
\nAll grown up from princess to queen
\nYour scarlet rose turned royal blue<\/p>\n

So generously you reigned
\nKeeping nothing to yourself
\nEven your timeless beauty
\nBestowed on everyone else<\/p>\n

So jubilantly you may’ve feigned
\nKeeping everything to yourself
\nEven the smallest of hardships
\nHeld out of sight from the rest<\/p>\n

I spun and spun landing far from home
\nWorlds apart life sure to keep busy
\nChugging along and off the rails
\nEyes off you I must ve got dizzy<\/p>\n

Now where have you ventured
\nI’ve fallen many steps behind
\nHave we just one chance it last
\nTo make up for all the lost time<\/p>\n

Long departure, warmth turned frigid
\nAll come together, my sorrow begins
\nNow that summer is gone
\nI can’t see you again<\/p>\n

Upon glimpse of your face
\nMy eyes immediately beamed
\nThe angel I knew
\nMy life\u2019s premiere sweet dream<\/p>\n

September 28, 2020<\/em><\/p>\n

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