THE CHARACTER OF HATS

artwork: ralph murre

THE CHARACTER OF HATS

by Michael L. Newell

A hat properly aged

releases the fisherman

cast inside a steel worker,

the dancer shimmering

in an accountant's figures,

the sailor deep

inside a coal miner,

the woodsman wandering

in a priest.

            *****

A hat aged properly,

stiffness mellowed into character,

smells of salt water

brine pickling skin, rain

streaming through Douglas Fir, firewood

kindling friendships, pipes

lit from embers

warming conversation, contains

sun, earth, tree, fire, rain, and moon.

~ first published in Bellowing Ark

THREE OLD LADIES LUNCHING

artwork: ralph murre

THREE OLD LADIES LUNCHING

by Michael L. Newell

their voices float

among potted plants

forks pry open

cold clams artichokes and families

each bite hangs

in the air

a dilemma

coffee is served

and thin blue hair

fills

        with rising steam

~ first published in Poetry/LA (1984)

SEPARATING

cropped and digitally modified from photo found at www.70-130.com

SEPARATING

by Michael L. Newell

When you say, "I'm leaving,"

and begin to sob,

I feel a strange elation,

not for your departure,

but for your crumpled face.

I say, "Stay, stay,"

and press you tight;

I am a child squeezing

hot laundry to his face.

            *

Amputees still feel

severed limbs--

how long will my left arm

remember your weight?

~ originally published in Poetry/LA (1984)