Ray Heinrich - Five Poems

the shadow of the building
moves
as the sun 
forms it into the hand of a giant clock
grabbing the day
and pushing it to one side

in a neighborhood of streets
named after flowers
you 
find yourself on rose
greeting me
as i come 
from begonia
on my way 
to marigold

i'm standing over my father
in the hospital
he's stopped breathing
i'm holding his neck 
and shoulder
and i've been rubbing them 
because he always liked that
and it's the best i can do
while i'm waiting for him to die

waiting for his next breath

and it comes

and another

and then

i'm waiting for his next breath again

and i count

one thousand and one
one thousand and two
one thousand and three

like he taught me
standing in our garage
watching a thunderstorm 
on the gulf coast of texas
sometime 
when i was maybe six
he taught me to count 
between the lightning flash and the thunder
taught me to figure out
how far away it was

we are all not just swimming in blood
but drinking it 
and enjoying its warmth
on the inside of our throats and stomachs
and the water 
we always thought was water
was blood
swimming in blood
i watch you 
take off your clothes
one shoulder
at a time
carefully revealing
what is always there
what is always 
blood

we
had wanted to be
gardens
filled with flowers and bees
industrious
fitting into this world
at the joyful places
the bright connections