THE GATE

Excerpt LIV

He put the two bags on the step to open his door.

The hallway mirror told him, you’re young, he knew it;

the youngest old man, at 65, the most handsome

both boys and girls copy the way he holds his cigarette

two grapes at his back teeth

a phrase of the unsaid under his tongue

already ready; he called a flash and it shone

he dragged his finger on the glass, removed the dust

he saw the elongated eyes smiling at him.

Each hidden thing yearns to be revealed

this grace is gifted to me, he said, I’ve worked on it

beyond arrogance beyond the unachievable; the spider

sauntered on my finger; go ahead I said to it; I paid

attention to its posture, behavior

I graced it with a place in the world. Thank you,

they told me and I heard it. My last part was

            gratitude.

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