Omar

الشريف

smoky mystery
haunted confidence
vulnerable invincibility
silky smooth
but not slippery
much

an accent
unidentifiable

surely
someplace exotic
before we knew where
the Middle East was
and developed
preconceptions

childhood memories
vaguest of vague

a doctor.
only remembered
thanks to the title
Zhivago

an ice house
a train
so, so cold
a long-ass movie
and
that song they played
everywhere
forever

for Lara

somewhere, my love
there will be songs to sing

there are words
for his type of mystery

somewhere,
whenever the sun breaks through

I’m searching

Nicky Arnstein
Nicky Arnstein
Nicky Arnstein

with Barbra, funny girl.

I reveal too much
of myself
in a poem
about someone else

I guess that’s how it always is.

don’t tell me not to live
just sit and putter
life’s candy and the sun’s
a ball of butter

enigmatic
that’s a good word

still not the word

inscrutable
unfathomable
unknowable

Sphinx-like

yes, that one.
Egyptian
even

a face I cannot scale,
but still find a foothold.
there is always hope.

God gave us poetry
instead of just
adjectives.

Hey, Mister Arnstein
Here I am

later
before he died, of course,
a celebrity
at bridge

of all things

enigmas do things like that
and we all just smile and nod

then head off to work
secrets to keep
– unknown –
but not mysterious
certainly not exotic or smoky

What’s the difference if I say
I’ll go away
When I know I’ll come back on my knees some day?

For what ever my man is
I am his forever more

الحياة