Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Building frame on th corner of Washington and Franklin, Boston

It is a crocus day in Boston,
which is to say winter is retreating


Pedestrians tilt their faces to the sky
smiles bright, coats folded into arm-crooks


Spaghetti straps, sandals and beach blankets
wink crispy from behind panes of glass


Among the roused specters of hot weather
there is the sense of a great exhalation


At the epicenter of a busy intersection,
half in shadow sits a deconstruction site


It's felt as a jarringly playful bone chill and
the illusive taste of vintage shadows


Perhaps when all the damaged goods returned
to those buildings could pearl into a small planet
the huge shops are put to rest


Yet there is nothing toxic in the rattle
of a building being remade, not even in
the ropes hanging from odd ceiling joists


Unbound timber rests carefully as a newborns hair
The sky looks like foil fins of a pinwheel
bracketed by the unctuous steel


It is a crocus day in Boston; which means
it's warm enough to rip down old walls, let all
the heavy foot-falls and hand prints escape

No comments: