The Great Tsunami

Michele Wolf

She recognizes its crest in the way he looks at her.
The wave is as vast as the roiling mass in the Japanese
Print they had paused in front of at the museum,
Capped with ringlets of foam, all surging sinew.
That little village along the shore would be
Totally lost. There is no escaping this.
The wave is flooding his heart, 
And he is sending the flood 
Her way. It rushes 
Over her.

Can you look at one face
For the whole of a life?

Does the moon peer down 
At the tides and hunger for home?

The Keeper of Light


The little one listens but never reveals
What she knows. By day she controls the light
That filters across the roofs, through
Trees, on furrows of plaintive faces.
She wakes up alone and unlocks
Cabinets of light, allots the portions
Strictly, patiently hears requests
For additional rays. What a job.
She has to be careful. Not long ago,
In a moment of passion, she almost
Gave away the whole reserve. Phones
Incessantly ring. Amazing, someone
Thanks her for light.

Michele Wolf

2017

Astigmatism


When I held smooth the satin to zip
Up your wedding dress, frosted with flounces 
And pearl-beaded filigree, a rococo
Confection more sugary than the cake,
And watched as you swiveled slowly to face
Me—all floaty notes, pure flute—so still
As I situated the baby’s breath and the veil,
How could I have told you, knowing
You’d learn it soon enough, my perfect doll,
How fuzzy the world is, how the clearest
Picture, frill-tipped gladioli in primary
Colors, can dissolve into darkness, how
The eye can fool you, presenting a straight
Or diagonal path when the earth is curved.

“It can be corr

Michele Wolf

2017

Pocono Lakeside


As I was guided by the director through the thick space
Of these rooms, worn sparrow brown, and strode
With the August sun on my shoulders across this particular
Acre of grass, nobody had told me this was the place
Where you had summered as a boy. I have weathered
My fourth decade, older now than you were 
When you died. I can barely remember you, yet I can see 
You not as my father but as my son. You are age nine.
The downpour divides into two massive stage curtains			
Parting.

Michele Wolf

2017

Poems

The Great Tsunami

More by this poet

The Keeper of Light

Astigmatism

Pocono Lakeside

Poems

Page submenu block

The Great Tsunami

More by this poet

The Keeper of Light

Astigmatism

Pocono Lakeside

Newsletter Sign Up