--- E L I Z A B E T H   S C A N L O N

Because the tao that can be spoken
is not the Tao, This is not the Tao
thank god for that
for he gave an only son (it's said)
knowing full well there were things
he could not say.

And Joan looked awful that day
in her ill-fit famous clothes
and fell from the scaffold she climbed
singing the only song we knew.

One night after Seder two                   
people walked down the street
each holding phone to ear
looking as though they spoke
to one another, but only
checking for messages.

All along the window ledges
dust gathers without a sound
a Quaker meeting of the minute.

An entire winter with no fruit
was the norm for centuries
pineapple me mango there's
enough to eat, my dear,
whether or not the branch has broken.