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THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT

Jack Galmitz

 

To Ya Li Zhang, my wife

 

 
   
  Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the editors of the following  publications in which some of the poems in this book appeared earlier:
The Asahi Evening News, The Aurorean, Frogpond, Ginyu, Haiku Headlines, Ko, Modern Haiku, Paperwasp, Presence, Raw NerVZ, Still, Winterspin, Woodpecker.

About the author
Jack Galmitz was born in the Bronx, New York in 1951. He attended New York City public schools from which he graduated. In 1985, the State University of New York at Buffalo conferred a degree of PhD in English Literature upon him. After a brief period of teaching, he went to work for an insurance company in the field of Workers’ Compensation. He has worked throughout his career for various insurance companies in that industry. He lives with his wife, stepson, and six cats in a converted factory building in Elmhurst, New York
.

 

     

Dreams . . .

 

New Year’s Eve -
I walk about naked
In my dreams

 

The first morning -
My wife recalls a dream,
But won’t share it

 

The morning is cold -
In the shower my wife
Sings songs of her home

 

A vacant lot
Sparkles with raindrops -
A midnight walk

 

Vanishing snow –
A homeless man
Passes my home

 

Stirrings. . .

 

Early Spring -
Two pigeons,
One big

 

In the sharp-branched tree,
The starling’s iridescence:
Spring’s frosty wind

 

Heavy rain all day -
In the alley the children
Sailed away

 

Strands of hair
She brushes off her face:
Clouds on a spring night

 

Opening day -
From the roaring crowd
The first ball pops out

 

Salmon-pink sky:
The sudden snap of wings
From out of black rocks

 

On her ear
So clear two beauty marks:
Spring night

 

Outside City Hall
Leaves are beginning to form -
We take wedding vows

 

The trees have new leaves:
Just like that a man appears
On the empty street

 

The Horseshoe Falls -
A man leans on the guardrail
Lost in thought

 

 

Bodies. . .

A night game -
A lacewing lifts off from the grass
Deep center

 

Silver-haired
He can sing the songs of birds
With a blade of grass

 

The subway is hot –
In the shade of a platform
A butterfly stops

 

Cirrus clouds -
The seagull’s wings in the sun
Are whiter still

 

White peonies -
My heart grows pure
Gazing at them

 

Behind the wide-load
The traffic comes to a halt -
The green mountains

 

Beneath broad clouds
The vegetable field darkens -
The woman’s straw hat

 

A wooded hill
Gives shape to the night:
You are with me

 

High tide -
Touching me the first woman
Made me die

 

In the darkness
The evening star shines clearly -
The squeals of children

 

Dandelion down
Drifts over the roofs -
Tenement houses

 

A beach ball
Bounced into the ocean:
A child

 

Her body
Spread on a blanket:
A quiet sea

 

Through the fields at dusk
Laughing three girls run -
Melon flowers

 

The old man swims
Giving live away –
A dark green sea

 

Falling Free. . .

Night in the country -
A pickup truck makes its way
Through stars unending

 

How beautiful!
A pumpkin in the porchlight
On a round table

 

Splendid costumes!
The street lined with Norway trees
Has changed its colors

 

Asleep on the porch -
Fireflies open a door
To the woods

 

In midtown
A sparrow sits on each bush -
Blue asters

 

A mountain pass -
As if they communicate,
The leaves have turned brown

 

An empty park -
The height of the sky
Revealed by a star

 

The autumn mountains -
Skipping a stone
On the lake’s stillness

 

A damselfly
Asleep on a log -
The river sparkles

 

November night -
The stadium
Without any lights

 

A red apple
In my palm. . .
Completely round

 

Almost home -
A shower of leaves falling
All in gold

 

 

Bones. . .

Cold rain -
In the paper bag crabs
Begin to clamber

 

January night -
The stores on the street are locked
With steel-shuttered gates

 

Day darkens -
The frozen pond grows brighter;
Skaters linger

 

Starry night:
Lovers of long ago
Come to mind

 

A winter night -
To the farthest street
The change of traffic lights

 

Crabs stacked in a tank
In a restaurant window -
Blue light on the street

 

In the store window
Seabream float in a tank -
Snow begins to fall

 

Winter seclusion:
Burs fall from the sycamore;
The snow is crusted

 

Snow dusted pines -
On the distant bridge
The dimness of lights

 

Winter dreams -
One by one the seagulls rise
From the shore of reeds

 

Shutting the notebook -
The winter night closes in
The trees, the mountains

 

 

   
   
  The Effects of Light Copyright © Jack Galmitz 2002.
Online Book Version  Copyright © AHA Books 2002.

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