homecoming
I used to climb mountains and
travel across continents
to sit and partake of a view such as this
to which I was delivered
feet up and willing
the other day
by disease
I'm stuck here
like traffic on FDR drive
moving slowly
on a grey day
next to glorious swirls
where wind touches water of Eastern Estuary
light plays its precious pastel rhapsody
across sky filled with vehicles
illuminated and illuminating
dazzling searchlights
whirl into emerging stars
grey twilight smudgeclouds hover still over
distant twinkling bridges
lit up to grace the wonders of chaotic architecture
I hungered angrily through pharmaceutical landscapes
to find such vistas
to feast my senses
to wonder at and breathe in
hoping to partake of that healing promised in beauty
but always elusive as time
is it a baby in here
or a blossom
or a baby and a blossom
blossoming into a god
I spoon the porridge
first thing I've eaten in days
down my esophagus to create a little bed for the pill
fever takes you to the banks of the river
the zone
where all the food is poisoned
sadness of species that mumbles over primitive texts
inscriptions of weeping
rages
an infinite number of beeping devices blink and flash
neurotransmitters
merge and flow
and time adds its two units of currency
St. Francis comes in
it's temperature time
a virus says
change your way of life or die
takes you to the edge
through the death zone
institutions of love apply molecules of great toxicity
this crisis is past
partake of lunch
this crisis has prepared you for the next one
enjoy your life
© copyright 1999 Harris Schiff