A second ago

I see my mother
                     as a type of gerbera,
       & have always known
babysitting anyone's mess
             can be another person's reward

                  ~

my predecessors,
                  I love them
           but don't want to imitate them,
                     living in rest-of-world,
   knowing they,
                    my predecessors,
were in main-world,
                          europe, japan, north america

                  ~

debates rail across
                 creative commons,
    I take a few of James Schuyler's
                                  peonies,
               Maggie Nelson takes the bluets

                  ~

spluttering in the city,
          conditioned to fortune
  against
             huge smoking days
      rolling in -
wild flames
                crown stands of eucalyptus,
   the sun a carmine lake

                  ~

my mother likes to know
                             the wind's direction
        & to say it -
                  'it's a north westerly'
&
    'the rain comes
                       with a southerly'

                  ~

I would like
          a speculative set
of laws
           that are friendly to life,
that's the main thing
                               & that's all,
      really

                  ~

just as
        I was feeling sorry
for the line break
   it all
         happened again,
                                a second ago