"when walking on earth is miracle enough" - a poem by Dennis Formento

when walking on earth is miracle itself
by Dennis Formento
(printed with permission)

when walking on earth is miracle itself
when cities are heat islands
where will you be, ten years on?
          if you know what's coming
          can you hope?
can you say so, can you say so
if you know what's coming
         and will anyone believe you?
         can you say so?
if you don't know what's coming and you act anyway
          is that hope? or the moment calling?

     maybe hope is
a work of many voices, all of them one voice
     the vision of many eyes, all of them one eye
when you see with one eye you see further
    “you live with your people as well as your ghosts.”

To keep your footing in the tidal wave,
     get used to the water,
take a ride down Carr Drive.

      Objects gathered on Carr Drive:
a wooden pelican, a weedy shrub grown in a concrete crevice,
          a child's life preserver,
a pair of pink goggles, a hard hat, and half a St. Joe brick.
          a morning glory twined around a tall weed
one nearly perfect pair of women's sandals.

Bridge up, bridge down, the train approaching, the expanse of water growing wider,
the acceptance of change, and the readiness to move on,
     strategy for survival-

maybe hope is the quality of non-expectation radiating love
struggle as if every second counts, or the line goes slack, & you're lost,

doesn't the earth create and maintain the conditions of life?
doesn't the moon rise and counter the steady sun?
where will you be, ten years from now?
where are you now?

what act restores the asylum
when walking on earth is miracle enough?

         Cities are heat islands
radiating deep into the night
         I woke up early,
quit driving by ten,
         the day bicycled under shade trees.

Is hope the desire
          for the arrival of
          the ideal state of things,
          the better day, tomorrow?
          Today
          Is.


(From “Blow,” commemorating the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, 8-29-07, commissioned by the St. Tammany Parish Arts Association.)

About Dennis Formento: He is a poet and performer with free jazz/free verse band, the Frank Zappatistas, and a publisher of Surregional Press. A New Orleans native, he now lives in Slidell, LA, with his wife, visual artist, Patricia Hart. His most recent book, Looking for an Out Place, was published in January of 2010 by FootHills Publishing of Kanona, NY (buy it here). His first cd of poetry and music has just been released, recorded with guitarist Ed Barrett as the duo Vecchio Frak (“old tail coat”).