Impressions

For Daniel,

I’ve seen the snow on the Alps
Lenin in Red Square
Eiffle Tower in Paris
The Berlin Wall while it was
Being Obliterated

Yet nothing was like seeing you

Not even the breath taking
Los Angeles smog, or the
Hatching of Malaysian
Sea turtles in the monsoon rain,
Could make me feel, like

When I watched them wheeling in
The child size coffin and
Realizing the wood, was
Dark blond -the color of your hair

The orange cutting inspired
Sydney Opera House, and
The Great Wall of China
Could not humble us
Like when your troubled brother, who
Some wished had died instead of you.
Told us he loved, sat down
His sobs resonated up
To the ceiling, through the glass cross
Where God’s sunbeam strolled in
Passing out leaflets on guilt.

The documentary on the holocaust,
The sight of two men kissing,
Or the man I loved,
Didn’t change me as much as seeing
The child size coffin with brass trimmings
And knowing the yellow wood
Matched your hair.