yellow eastern peaches – three of them bought a few days ago

the first was mealy – I tossed it, wanted to toss them all

but then I never would have met her ripe Jersey sisters

the sweetness of their acquaintance this morning the last

sliced into my bowl – an island of granola oats hot off

the stove rooted in a lake of organic whole milk with

a dollop of maple syrup from up north and yes, those juicy

peach slices smiling like crescent suns – Italian dark roast

poured from my Bialetti pot into a hefty mug with an image

of the Dallas city skyline and printed along its base the slogan

“The Big D” and for once I don’t think of death…

but pretty Texas barroom girls in short skirts and western booties

my eyes rising from the sparks of their heels to their bare dimpled

knees, but I’m two-steppin’ here – Let me introduce myself:

I’m a devotee to the monastic order of the meditative breakfast

a meal which was in the beginning, is now and why shouldn’t it be

without end? …and did I mention the bagel tanning in the toaster

and a second cup of caffeinated Italian roast?   my thoughts

steaming in abundance, yet all I can dwell upon – is absence;

the thin plastic container my wife left by the sink, missing

those plump mini-cannonballs of blueberries – everyone in the house

has left for school or work – the radio is off – silence fine-tuned –

water bowl on the floor bone dry – in the kitchen corner

my dog’s pillow-bed – as empty as a shrine

ANTHONY POLICANO is a board member of the Long Island Poetry Collective and has served as managing editor of Xanadu, their national poetry anthology. He currently moderates a weekly Zoom poetry workshop. Anthony’s poetry has been selectively published in many print and online journals. In addition to poetry he enjoys paddleball, bicycling, and swimming in saltwater pools of magical realism.