Have that shot of whiskey,

whether the day has been

beautiful or fraught.

So much is passing by

and you want to open the doors

like an orphanage that believes

it can save all the children

despite the impossible odds.

You’ve been at this a long time—

someone will notice.

Protocols

An odd bird of blue flies

closely over my head.

The sun has finally decided

to do its job.

The vehicles on the elevated

highway can still be seen

through the spaces of construction

work, the lone windmill

still going strong and effervescent.

The neighbors allow their

dogs to run through the patches

of flowers blooming early

and a woman on a park bench

says she’s in love with Spring.

My wife in a yellow windbreaker

waves to me in the distance.

I wave back as I have always done.

The protocols of the world

are as tiny as they are vast.

The heart can follow any size.

​