Still Further Octets from North Portland

williams ave octet #4


sheet of white roof tin buried in pine needles;
iron pipe railing thronged with shrunken roses—

one pear tree black-limbed in drizzle, its outline
traced in gold lights; the next clings to final leaves—

too early for the food truck: lot chained between
posts, black & white checked tablecloths spread taut—in

galvanized tubs variegated yucca
casts its yellow-green hues to the wet sidewalk


◦    ◦    ◦

skidmore st octet #3
holly berries knotted in mist, parking strip
clover tipped in white dew, suede jacket preserves

the damp from last night’s walk; clothing jumbled at
the corner atop a wet grocery bag

only seems forlorn under a splintered branch,
near ferns rising up between black mossy rocks,

beneath lilac’s foliage, brown at the fringe—
one version of walking through fallen ash leaves



Jack Hayes
© 2016


11/25/16