Signs

written by


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All night I dreamed of my home, 
of the roads that are so long
and straight they die in the middle—
among the spines of elderly weeds 
on either side, among the dead cats, 
the ants who are all eyes, the suitcase 
thrown open, sprouting failures.

 2.
And this evening in the garden 
I find the winter
inside a snail shell, rigid and 
cool, a little stubborn temple, 
its one visitor gone.

 3.
If there were messages or signs,
I might hear now a voice tell me 
to walk forever, to ask
the mold for pardon, and one
by one I would hear out my sins,
hear they are not important—that I am 
part of this rain
drumming its long fingers, and 
of the roadside stone refusing 
to blink, and of the coyote
nailed to the fence with its
long grin.

And when there are no messages 
the dead lie still—
their hands crossed so strangely 
like knives and forks after supper.

 4.
I stay up late listening.
My feet tap the floor,
they begin a tiny dance
which will outlive me.
They turn away from this poem. 
It is almost Spring.

© Larry Levis