Can You Tell

By John Godfrey

Happens this time

in answer to indecency

Lit by the yellow

shop windows cast

Unkind to you, that light

You say, Sit, Ubu, sit, or

Hey, I like your weave

This avenue for instance

Gateway to escapade

You can see from the

beginning to its end

All-embracing greed

Distracting appliqués

of altruism

Small pomme de terre

Can you tell whose

hand on the basinet

and that does what for you

Warmth all in the light

Sight all in

garage park hallway

Morning's dusk on pause

You stand body in profile

What you don't fill

in the doorway stays empty

More than overcome

I know you're there

and unseal my lips

Copyright Credit: John Godfrey, "Can You Tell" from The City Keeps. Copyright © 2016 by John Godfrey. Reprinted by permission of the author and Wave Books.

Source: The City Keeps (Wave Books, 2016)