The Kindness of Strangers

Here I am with all my flaws
seeking form and shelter.

I blanche at the notion
of violence, but it’s coming

after us, closing in like a
superstition I can’t shake.

If I acquiesce to your harsh
future you must promise me

one thing. Where we go we will
find our youth again. Can you

see it there under the yellow linen
tablecloth? I’m depending on it.

Her regime expires when
the moon meets the sun
on the horizon we can’t see
because the sycamore trees

next door block our view.
Our world droops in anticipation.
We would like to exchange
the unkind for the kind but

we can’t find the strength
to oust the inevitable. Instead
we joke about politics and watch
our neighbors arm themselves.

Sally Van Doren

2017

After TM Davy

The impending light
pushes out from
an unstable center.

It tries to convert
flux into stasis. I
watch it from my

indolent perch
on the couch. If it
pushes too hard

we will capsize.
I prefer to regard
it from across

the room, letting
it guide me without
burning a hole in my sight.

Sally Van Doren

2017

Poems