LOWER DOWN

Wait. Not just yet.
Let me walk again
Down the street 
Of my youth.

Let me see 
The backyard 
In bloom again
Alive with the hummingbirds.

Let me see once more 
The faces of all
The neighbors 
I once knew so well.

The German immigrant,
The Polish Catholic
With the virgin
Mary in the window.

The paperboy 
and hand cart
jogging down
the street happy,

His multitude 
Of hellos to all.
Let me see
All these people again.

Those whom loved me
And whom I loved.
The lake in the sun glass
Of a morning without mourning

The occasional fish jumping
Out of the blue water
And quickly back under seaweed
To their lonesome surf homes.

I need one more
Look. One more Sunday
Drive around Belle Isle and
One more Good Humor coconut bar.

Take me back
To my paper route
On November 21, 1963
Before the universe cracked.

Let me see all
Of my friends
Playing baseball
And meaning it.

Let me feel the sun
Burn on my back
And grandma rubbing
Soothing lotion by the cooling fan.

When this all ends,
Before I am 
Lowered down 
Into the dry mud, 

Let me see everyone
One more time 
To kiss all who once
Loved me and I them.

THE STRANGENESS OF THE SELF IN BLOOM

Sitting in my backyard 
In the Midwest, I dream 
Of a new world.

Rain drops upon
Fresh green leaves
Finches new in their nests.

The rose bushes from winter
Coming back alive in the pink 
Fragrance Of their leafy petals. 

I am talking to the occasional cloud
Shadows, creation shadows on my lawn.
I lay back and whisper myself back to life.

I can no longer climb 
The mountains of my past 
I can only move forward.

Someday, I hope
To be reborn again
In glory and love.

But, until then, I sit,
Dream and will awaken
When I am called.

M. L. Liebler is the author and editor of over 15 books. His new anthology, co-edited with Jim Daniels, is Respect: Poets on Detroit Music (Michigan State UP, 2020). He is the Director of The Detroit Writers Guild and the host of many different series in Detroit. He has taught at Wayne State University since 1980. He received a PEN/Oakland Award in 2018 and the 2020 Michigan Humanities Art Leader in Michigan Award. (www.mlliebler.com).