January Sunday

by Yuko Otomo
     from “Sunday Poems”

looking up
my eyes catch
the frozen details of tree tops

in washington square park

I am f loating
upside down
in the Prussian blue sky

“we are like underwater creatures!”
I ask for your agreeable smile

being poetic or not
does not give us the privilege
to ignore traffic lights

we all stand in a straight line
& wait

a tree trunk
crosses the room
full of conjunctions, particles & opinions —

a clear dark ceiling f lickers
the monotony of a winter night

I tilt my view
to escape from words
to stay unnoticed

in the middle of the room
goldfish swim
expressing their muteness —

at least I don’t romanticize
the life of these underwater creatures
too one-sidedly

exit signs on the windows
a mountain trail sign in the stairway —

someone I know makes a joke
saying “a cover charge for paradise!”

a father & son walk in
red balloons in their hands

interior plants exist
in their own tired mannerism

“I am beat!”

but no one believes me
because I have a sweet & un-scarred face