"Kindness," by Joseph Lease: "We are running out of eyes"

Kindness

by Joseph Lease

*

When the soul opens

There will be a cheap hotel

Someone yelling

The first snow and wrapping paper

*

I was in houses, cold, strange houses, gray

morning, just empty—broken door, broken

door, broken wall, broken

dawn—

just empty—

*

Right there—stone and glass shine—answer, answer, yes—oxygen makes fire brighten—brilliant water, stick your hand in—nothing ends, do you believe me—no, in waves you must paint, from plenty to nightmare—Tuesday he’ll be dead a year—tonight, tonight—and morning comes—dead face, open mouth—dead face, open mouth—buried in snow—

*

no—

paint—

plenty to nightmare—

brightness

—no—paint angel—

flesh

—paint—

so

willows

so

lost

*

We

Are

Running

Out of

Eyes

*

just

squeeze

daylight

from your

finger—

just

spill

lifetimes

on the

floor

*

so

willows

so

lost

so

open

so

long

From the site Collected Photographs, "worth a browse," as Jonathan Williams would admit: Joseph Lease's critically acclaimed books of poetry include Testify (Coffee House Press, 2011), Broken World (Coffee House Press, 2007), and Human Rights (Talisman House, second edition forthcoming)."'Broken World' (For James Assatly)" was also selected for The Best American Poetry 2002.