"First Class Boarding," by Hans Ostrom

At the airport,
the difference
between
the general-boarding area
and
the First Class one
consists of a rug
on which First Class
was stitched
by a machine.
Also a short blue nylon band
suggests a barrier
between
the two areas.
These things we do.
These distinctions we make.


hans ostrom 2014

"A Mona Lisa," by Angelina Weld Grimké

"Thinking at a Funeral," by Hans Ostrom

It's sad to think that those little
private,unfounded beliefs (blue underwear
will bring me luck)will die
with each of us,
along with the complex cultures
we create in our minds, whereas something
truly silly like labeling water H-2-0
will persist indefinitely. I was

thinking this at a funeral when
I was supposed to be listening
to a "friend" of the deceased
talk almost exclusively about
himself, not the life of
the dead man. Dear Lord:
there are over 7 billion
vagabond human minds on Earth;
please advise.



hans ostrom 2014

"Expect Delays," by Hans Ostrom

"On the Balcony," by D.H. Lawrence

"Twenty Years Hence," by Walter Savage Landor

"Mist, Earthquake, Grace," by Hans Ostrom

"To Helen," by Edgar Allan Poe

"Friendco," by Hans Ostrom

One From Maya Angelou, R.I.P.

"A Girl," by Michael Field

"How Many Times Do I Love Thee?" by Thomas Lovell Beddoes

"God Scatters Beauty," by Walter Savage Landor

"Fragmentary Blue," by Robert Frost

"Why?" by Walter de la Mare

"Irony," by Amy Lowell

"Weak Days," by Hans Ostrom

Sunday was a damned done-day,
if you ask me, and you didn't.
Monday was a numb-day.
Wednesday? What a clot
of consonants. That mid-
dumb-day did not
find me inconsolable.
But still. Thursday,
a blur's day. Tues,
the Blues, an out-of-
order cruise. Fly-Day
night, I saw old pals
getting buzzed and sat
there in a corner like
a spider that's lost
its appetite. Saturday
always seems to want
to perform like
an Ur-Day. Academics
used to like to add
Ur to words. They're
always doing shit like that.
Also,there's always a missing
day in every week. It's that
one on which we do
exactly what we're
supposed to do.

"Venus Transiens," by Amy Lowell

"Houses," by F.S. Flint

"God Moves in a Mysterious Way," by William Cowper