I no longer count on permanence
in this vessel of water, salt, and bones
which moves through the tired streets
dusting zebra crossings with footsteps
lungs pumping: in, out
in, out
among unexpected aches
hiding the soul
from onlookers and eavesdroppers
threading through a circular waltz of
clock hands chasing each other

Reality’s beta test
was learning to bob and weave,
though sometimes the blows still found me.
Now, with the sunset stamped on my retina,
I think of another round
past the edge of echoes
Why the world quarrels
if it believes in the eternal awakening?
And those who don’t—
shouldn’t they be seizing
every dazzlingly sunny moment
intermingling with rainy and snowy
laughs of nature?

I know the troublemaker,
that illusion
bursting through some minds
lingering in others
than mirage of a special self
making a difference
even as we know
like chess pieces
shifting in endless combinations
all things cycle back
to the same square one
time after time…

I know
the sun will still be okay
even when I won’t,
long after we all won’t.

I don’t count on permanence
Yet I yearn for that final round
leaning on the ropes,
anticipating life
on the lips of those
who will recite my words
after a hushed farewell
and a kiss
at the threshold of time’s door.

Alexander Selimov is an award-winning poet and songwriter whose work spans multiple cultures and languages. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he holds the “Elias Ahuja Chair of Spanish” named professorship at the University of Delaware.