William Jay
Long After Dark
a train carrying
contraband cargo
passes by farms
and hills
on its way to a depot
hidden
far underground
while men in masks
and bio hazard suits
prepare for a disaster
and plot a course
for the stars
but oh the wind blows
hard here
and will not dissipate
until long after dark
Eros
sleepless
I sit on the bank
of Lake Ray Hubbard
and look out
into the blank pornography
of the night
(the water rises to meet me)
I can see the blue-green
light of a boat in the distance
while a fish floats by
on undulating waves
its white belly bathed
in a hallucinatory radiance
(unknowable)
I can have none of this
I have no thoughts
(a faint echo of stars)
the descent
of an unidentified
but topless sky
William Jay was born in Minneapolis in 1957. In the late seventies (after briefly studying in Rome, Italy), he studied under the Phenomenologist and Philosopher, Doctor Josef Seifert at the University of Dallas. He is currently working on a book of poetry, TelePrompTer & Other Poems. He lives in Paris, France.