Brightness

I am once again fooled by the chill accompanying the birds
a cardinal orchestra requires mittens in April
in Wisconsin that is, a state borrowed from Canada,

offering wilder rice by the pound
beer by the dozens of ounces
and fish, especially Friday

for the souls looking for the middle
but not very hard
New York is too big, too crowded
some have said

while others were gravity-bound
and their ground sits among lakes
with an acceleration sometimes defeated
by leaps to the right or left.