Miami

buildings blend

into the sky     the work

goes on

from where we left off

and consciousness, by rights,

is doors and windows

a spritz of color

in this life

is what we can expect

if we can expect anything

and a breeze or two

a quiet day     a little sun

that 5-letter word "money"

relying on no one

for pleasure

than the weather and the then

discovered leisure

to lean a little

into more than can be expected

let me explain

we feel the heart

against the ribs

we feel the leg

against the chair

we feel two eyes linked as one

looking into your two

and rubbing your brow

like a finger

taking the sweat lengthwise

off the brow and drying the forehead

which is suddenly your

we feel the nouns make emotions

out of a sense of easiness

the ability to relax

the desire to simplify

what we suddenly discover

is meant

because we haven't paid attention

to exemplify something

what it is, we forget

we know it was something special

something out of the ordinary

a nagging something or other

stupidly repeating itself

in a vague way

on the sill

when we think the water still

that's the silliest thing

I ever heard of

hearing everything through

the air conditioner above

the bottom line

Ted Greenwald

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Ted Greenwald earned a BA from Queens College, CUNY. He has authored more than 25 books of poetry, including Lapstrake (1965); Blink (1972); The Life (1975); You Bet! (1978); Common Sense (1979, 2016); Word of Mouth (1986); Looks Like I’m Walking (1991); You Go Through (1992); Something, She’s Dead (1999); and The Up and Up (2004). The Age of Reasons (2016), a collection of his ‘uncollected poems from 1969 to 1982’, surprises the reader with his engaging language driven by the New York School and style of Language poets. In 1978, Greenwald, with Charles Bernstein, cofounded the Ear Inn Reading Series, which featured the poets John Ashbery and Michael Lally in its first reading. The reading series became a venue for developing and promoting the Language poetry movement, with which Greenwald’s writing is associated.

Greenwald has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fund for Poetry, the Kulcher Foundation, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. He lived in New York City until his death in 2016.