Prairie Wolf Press Review
To Siddhartha, While Going to the Gym
It’s so early even the traffic lights are dim.
The midnight hunters slink home fed.
Parking is easy. Those provided for
are just now tumbling out of bed.
I watch him hang his office shirt
on the peg provided by the gym.
I do not always work out at this hour,
but when I do it’s because of him.
He firms the hanger, rubs the creases flat,
seems not to notice where he goes I go.
We speak. The weather’s this; our team is that.
Do you know the restaurant I know?
When he’s out on the weight room floor
I gather the white shirt to my face.
One gesture, I whisper, one syllable
might quench the fire. . . a brief embrace. . . .
Here is another way to look at it:
the origin of suffering is denial.
To deny is to necessitate.
Let that sink in. Let that resonate.
The Almost Moon by Francine Witte
David Brendan Hopes is a poet and painter living in Asheville, NC.
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