[43] Automobiles Pass Me on Route 206, Richard Fulco

I approach a foot bridge that stretches
across a grieving creek
where blue and white
must come
to this:
……The routine of failure. Rupturing
……the ground underfoot. Debris, swept
……into the gutter with cigarette
……butts and broken beer bottles.
……A corroded phone tower in the
……meadow, rising high like Helios.

I’ve come to expect the silence. Fallen
branches draped over sturdy boughs.
Popped blue balloon dangling
from a rusted
nail.
……This suffering belongs to me.
……But I’ve chased my dreams:
……green ferns alongside
……a promising stream,
……a twig like a garter snake,
……a dock leading nowhere.

The lone tweet of a house wren,
branches bending above our
heads, reaching for each
other, a curve in the
bend.
……Years line the path
……ahead. Wasted days. A
……disheveled boy crawling
……along a fallen tree.
……I must see
……its end.