Totem
If the stars then the running
if the grain then the taking
under stealth and erasure
reprobate until closure
if words then horizon
suffice to say bodies
leeward when rising
then faces frame
layer if wanting
then touch
if vacant then nascent
if sinking
then leaf-lined
the kneeling then grass
if whispered to others
then children count
ships a flotilla
of swan
if flotilla of meaning
then relations to squander
if the whole and
if closure
then voices
the breaking
if leaves
sign a locus
then ready and sentient
To Live on Air
Wholeness reckoned
as a stream,
beauty tossed
as scarves
at a bazaar,
the meal never served
as want becomes
the cellos
in the piece, music
emanating
from two griefs.
Sighted and recited,
words repeat
their vow to live
on air, ashen as leaves
under a stone
or faces in a photo
speaking as if meshed
in half-lit prayers.
As night prepares
its jewels, the play
begins when
Prospero works
his charms by which
a world appears.
lucid as the song of dust
played upon a page of notes.
Maxine Chernoff is chair of Creative Writing at SFSU. Her latest poetry book is Here from Counterpath Press. She is a 2013 NEA fellow in poetry.