from DC Poems
4
Three men, four men
atop the rowhouse opposite
from up there you can see probly
all of Mt. Pleasant
early March the sun
the streetlights the people
the afternoon men
playing checkers on a trashcan
drinking coffee and eating 7/11 croissants
The Green Pilgrim, with book and horse
_rophet of the _ong Road
three towers on three corners at God & 16th
south to downtown and the still-icy potomac
and further south, another brother
awaits his firstborn
and further still, my father (snowy
mustache security badge) celebrates his 71st birthday
Further South there are roads
and a border and a desert and roads
a forest a gap more forest and roads to an ocean
and then the icy extreme of the southern pole
(a rock suspended delicate in directionless limitless
timeless space)
if those guys on the roof
of the rowhouse opposite
take a break take a minute look south
at the sun and Mt. Pleasant
Does the view from the roof on a monday in march
stir the cells of their unknowable individual
private universes
or right now
are they just worried about the roof
reroofing the roof
finishing the roof so they can pack up and
go home
Author’s Bio
Joe Neubert was born in Georgia and is currently living in Washington, DC.
