Late August Afternoon on the Porch Reading Charles Simic
By Anthony DeGregorio
For
years I have
regularly dreamed of elopement with a forest.
Our
fall into each
other’s soul as soundless as it is furtive.
First
and foremost
we’d begin our new life
Far
away, hidden
from everyone
Who
would do us
wrong. Light years from every maleficent essence.
No longer
would I
look over my shoulder
For
the various
debt collectors I seem to attract
To whom
by their
calculations at least
I am
in arrears on
payments, goods, and
Promised
personal
services of all sorts.
No longer
would
she fear the stray lightning bolt
Threatening
to
demolish the innocents within and beneath her trees.
We are
quite well
matched.
It
is only
as Christmas approaches that I turn melancholic.
Drawn
to run up
further huge debts
Stemming
from
obsessive generosity and good will.
Charging
my life
away to department stores and online offers.
Not
to mention a
rash of TV enticements,
Tempting
with
lifelong installment plans.
And
she, though
she’ll be hesitant to admit it at first,
Secretly
awaits a
family with a bow saw
Pursuing
that
perfect tree for their bare living room
To shelter
all the
beautifully wrapped gifts
And
curtain the 5
stockings hung, anticipating
The
eager hands of
children and impatient spirits
Craving
chocolate,
various states of consciousness,
Socks,
and
revelations. Yes.
But
please know we
both embrace sacrifice.
We realize
our
dreams are only worth dreaming
If we
never wake
up, and are
Thereby
never
disappointed again.
Anthony DeGregorio’s writing
has appeared or is scheduled to appear in various publications, including Libre,
Abandoned Mine, Italian America Magazine, Aromatica Poetica,
Bloom, Nowhere, Wales Haiku Journal, Polu Texni,
and So It Goes: The Literary Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library.
He taught writing at
Manhattanville College for twenty years, and in another life or two or three he
worked in various capacities for the Department of Social Services, much of
that time while teaching at night. Prior to that is anyone’s guess, but don’t
let that stop you.
