Hello, Goodbye

From Once a Murderer, published by Wolsak & Wynn in 2008. 

*          poetry is a crime scene waiting to be deciphered
*          crime is poetry smeared with bodily fluids

WAYS TO SAY GOODBYE* 

GOODBYE*
[with theatrical grins &
whitened teeth, a la "Sound of Music"]
all together now: So long,
farewell, it's time that we
must leave

 

* with a wet kiss
* with a stop sign
* by monorail
* via Grand Central Canyon
* in a whisper
* without meaning it
* over the phone
* in the shower, when you are alone
* at 3 a.m.
* by moving to another city
* by letter
* with a dry kiss
* AT HIGH VOLUME
* with a one-word sticky note left on the computer
* through bitchy poems
* by carrier pigeon
* through mental telepathy
* the use of repetition
* in a foreign language neither of you know





*  poetry is effervescence boiling 
    down a long flight of stairs
*  crime is willfully pitching a person
    into that torrent 


WAYS* TO SAY HELLO

*WAYS
)  chalk lines drawn
   from a predetermined spot
)  a marine rail line running
   into the water, from
   which vessels may be
   pulled in order to effect
   repairs
)  modes, methods

 * cheerfully
* at a distance
* by megaphone
* in the morning
* with a nuzzle to the neck
* by email to a computer in the same house
* with face averted
* with white ink on black paper
* with a hug
* with bacon for breakfast
* running to meet one another
* in passing
* en masse
* with a photo
* the two of you in different vehicles,
   windows rolled down, engines running
* waving from the deck of an ocean liner
* by phone, with no name given
* with a fresh-picked rose (pink
   or red) tucked into the sash
* with song