Distances

                   “How beautiful you must be
                    to have been able to lead me
                    this far with only
                    the sound of your going away”
                                      -W.S. Merwin
                                      -The Moon Before Morning

1

Closeness became an illusion
like one darkness passing slowing
through the eyes of another

2

Alone with furniture
that will not hide its face

I wait
counting the ghosts
that spiral up from the wood’s grain
and tick by

3

When I return
I am silent
I do not wake you

Thinking this does not concern you
I let you sleep

4

Sunrise
and I must leave

You try to touch me
but the blaze of these moments
will not allow it

I am too protective
of the light that coats my morning

5

We do not exchange the colors
spreading within us

One light passes quickly unnoticed
through the eyes of the other

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John L. Stanizzi, Author - Ecstasy Among Ghosts, Sleepwalking, Dance Against the Wall, After the Bell, Hallelujah Time!, High Tide – Ebb Tide, Four Bits, Chants, Sundowning, POND, The Tree That Lights the Way Home.   Besides StJohn's poems are in Prairie Schooner, Cortland Review, American Life in Poetry, and others.  John's nonfiction has been in Literature and Belief, Stone Coast Review, and others.  He was awarded an Artist Fellowship in Creative Non-Fiction, 2021 from the Connecticut Office of the Arts. https://www.johnlstanizzi.com
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