Sentinel Poetry (Online) #38 The International Journal of Poetry &
Graphics Monthly ISSN 1479-425X
Lynn Cohen
E-Z Rider
He roared away
NYC city smoke everywhere
Hair the color of carrots and the cat
the autumn air a pollutant
No Rhodes scholar
An Ivy keg
And camp sweatshirt
Piece together his past
Fraternity connections
Love of economics
Receding hairline
And a 401K his present
Yet I dream of carrot-topped grandchildren
“hurry up; it’s time”
I am running out of time
To run after toddlers
Hands smeared in another generation
I don’t even know where the last one went
Yesterday she cried in pink, newborn rage
Played for days after days
Left for kindergarten and college on the same day
As I ignored my thirties
My forties
My fifties
Loved a child of a man:
Martini-slurping
Excitement-churning
Taken and intense soul
Three years without rest
I continent hopped in carceral spaces
White noise
And goats my solace
Found out time could not be stopped
In autonomous moments
Yet the memories persist
Long after I thought they could
Long after I know they should.
