Michael McClintock
 
                                                    
                                                
                                                         in a city
                                                         drifting among
                                                         strangers
                                                         sometimes I want
                                                         nothing more



                                                         I pretended sleep
                                                         when my wife left them
                                                         on the nightstand—
                                                         two fireflies
                                                         in a jar for me
 


                                                         a mirror
                                                         facing another mirror --
                                                         it's for real,
                                                         the infinity of light
                                                         ahead and behind



                                                         each morning
                                                         out of the weaver's shop
                                                         a new carpet
                                                         unrolls an image of heaven
                                                         for sale on the street



                                                         after five days,
                                                         bagpipes and haggis aplenty,
                                                         I'm going to flee
                                                         old Scotland, the same as
                                                         my bandit fathers before me



                                                         telling anyone
                                                         who would listen ---
                                                         look here
                                                         my brother gave me a marble
                                                         that's just like a cat's eye


                    

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