Deaf World

hubbub of a city park, whisper of my mind

walking along a paved path, others talking

aloud, a boat — white strings, triangle

of flimsy cloth, silvery hoops & nails joining

three pieces of wood into a proposition

set loose on a pond, motion proof of a breeze

I stop to feel, the sail filling one way

the boat going another, what suggests

a boat will return? a boat might fall over

send boys, their fathers floundering

what if a loitering child or fathoms claim it?

pantomime a world where I presume to speak

everyone a stranger, changeable winds

it’s not my boat, every boat I fancied lost

Laboratory

a room of large tables, shelves of bottles

the glass brown or clear, the contents liquid

some are tombs for bodies, for body parts

what I learn is the smell of formaldehyde

the look & feel of a glass pipette, a pointed tip

submerged in a beaker of distilled water

“it’s like a straw,” my grandfather says

“draw the liquid up beyond this mark”

an etched number next to an etched line

“then stopper the pipette with the tip of

your index finger, tap to release drop

by drop until the liquid level meets the mark”

this practice, this exactitude, lifelong

Single Track

gray chips trace a narrow berm

between two slopes, left down to

a grassy ditch, right down to roots

of taller-than-me grass gone to seed

& spiking thistle, “ride the line,” I cry

aloud, pedal steady, front wheel

straight, thistle grabs, velvety plume

caresses, I stop, pedal again, stop

to pant, to breathe, there'll come a day

when pedal & breath run together

What To Do about Texas

MacKenzie Scott, Melinda Gates, Dolly Parton, Oprah Winfrey, & other mega-wealthy women promise a free trip out of Texas & a free abortion for any woman who wants an abortion

corporations suspend all business in Texas, e.g., Amazon will no longer to ship to Texas addresses or offer cloud service to Texas-based companies, Verizon cancels all mobile service contracts, Apple closes all stores, Delta Airlines no longer flies to Texas, Ford closes all car dealerships . . .

New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, & Louisiana set up border patrols & deny entrance to cars with Texas license plates

this is the non-violent response, violent response remains muted for the time being