samson's haircut

 

i remember woods

thick as baleen

and being swallowed

i remember the esophageal 

undulating road to sacket lake

i remember woods

full of hassids

i remember jews

in different chambers

of the heart

of the catskills

i remember sun bleeding

through trees

strobing tired eyes

pressed to the car window

i remember tosca

symphonies of leaves

recurring dreams

past lives in old countries

ugly ducklings

pretty ducklings

the provenance of memory

in senior living communities

dying comedians

i remember my father’s first congregation

i remember wood pews

wood arcs

wood handshakes

stained glass

closed caskets

wine stained trousers

i remember fasting

feeding fowl at the bridge on the creek

finding a twenty dollar bill

buying flavored honey sticks

suckling honey

slipping kippahs

dangling from the edge of hair