ok I squeezed the mirror like a rag
to wring out a jangle of silver
how you said I could help myself
to coin of the realm
that mirrors charge
for passing us from front to back and back
again
pitching quarter after quarter from the car window
into Charon's plastic toll booth bucket
on ramp off ramp rewinding
until no quarter
from the reflection of your face
so much faster than the current
of the river Styx in rearview
you Windex my eyes
and place an empty shard of glass
in my mouth like the last dollar
to buy passage
ferry what's left of today's failing light
to the other side
The Sunday Muse
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qbit 
Those last two stanzas rock!
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Hey! We crossed in the mail! Thanks for the kick-ass comment at my place, qbit. I stand Windexed!
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Ahaha! I can’t tell if I’m blinded or finally see the light…
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You might get a kick out of this one… https://qbit.blog/2020/07/17/stfu-ode-12-to-my-morning-coffee/
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So many layers of meaning in the line “Ferry what’s left of today’s failing light to the other side”.. Very nicely done.. Thanks for sharing
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It’s so odd to me what nitid string of associations must tether your mind for you to create such a dual composition from a rear-view mirror. Down to windex eyes, there’s such a textured phasing of natural to synthetic to mythopoetic.
And you don’t have a book? You don’t have a book, right, Mr. Brett? I haven’t been able to find any, but if there is one, I’d like to have it.
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Thank you so, so much! I’m very glad you enjoy my poems. I don’t have a book, although I do have some recent poems published that I should post the links. Thanks for reminding me, I’ll try to do that tonight or tomorrow.
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I’m glad I get to enjoy them, really. But nothing quite replaces the experience of having them. I’m a reader that returns, because poems often gain emboss through time; as I evolve, so do they. Of course, I could always return to your webpage, but it isn’t neither the same nor would I be directly supporting your creative endeavor.
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Wow. That is so well said. I’m supposed to be putting one together, you might have given me the nudge to finish that! Thank you so much.
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You have a first buyer! Just make sure they ship it to Portugal. This also means you have your first transatlantic buyer.
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For certain! I just saw your link to me on your site. I do not deserve such a thoughtful narrative. Your page is a trove of many wonderful poets, I am glad you have collated all of them, I will explore them all!
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I got a bit fumbled now, because I did ask permission to all people I included in the list, but I must have missed you! You are certainly deserving, or, you are to me. I’ve been a fan for a while, but I’m a bit timid.
The publicity of work that I support, however, is something I’m not timid about, and if I truly had my way, that list would be triple in size.
I’m genuinely very fond of your writing, this is no attempt at sycophantism. It’s rare, refined, textured, and very, very acute. It’s the type of writing I envy, but also the type of writing I like even more because of that envy, if that makes sense.
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No worries, I’m honored! Yes, what you said at the end makes sense. That drives me too.
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So many intense and great lines here Qbit and that first line really grabbed me! Awesome as always!!
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Thanks! Glad you liked that first line. Hopefully an unexpected twist.
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I could feel frustration here, wasted quarters, they’re getting us nowhere. Save them for ferry passage, I’m over the Rhine.
I’ll stay awake tonight trying to find a place for your words to fall.
..
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I feel like a could read this as many times as I want and come up with a different image/reading. Lovely.
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Thanks!
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“ferry what’s left of today’s failing light
to the other side” This knots the thread that flowed through this poem. Read it a few times.
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