Jack Tricarico
THE PERCEIVED AS THE PERCEIVER
Can you imagine
The cup in which you drink your tea
The room, the world outside
Imagines you
As simply a presence
And nothing more than that?
Can you imagine
As simply a presence
Without intention, expectation
There is another you
Beside that other you
And maybe more than that
Knowing who you are
A cup of tea, a room
The world outside
You remember who you were
When you were neither you
Nor this, nor that
MOMENTUM
Between democracy and kakistocracy
I can’t find a seat on a bus or a train
Unless someone believes I’m about to collapse
And surrenders their seat to a thankful response
And I don’t bother to explain, it isn’t my body
But rather my brain that feels as if descending
Into a prehistoric mud with dinosaurs
And pterodactyls waiting to be born
Into a futuristic century designed exclusively
For them, as if they never existed before
And in a country walking backwards
My arthritis will get worse. So how could I adapt
At the age of 87, laughing at a mirror that insists I’m 29?
Reducing time to just a number, breathing in
And breathing out, I count backwards from 100
To reach an age, just for today, I will become
John (Jack) Tricarico is a New York City painter and poet who has been published in poetry journals and anthologies in the United States, Europe and Mexico. To name a few most recent publications: The Soliloquist Magazine, Voices Unbound, The Opiate Magazine, Strange Quark press, etcetera. He recently published a book of poems available on Amazon entitled: Selected Poems / Jack Tricarico. His artwork can be viewed at: www.nyaw.com
Banner Art:
from Church Street El, Charles Scheeler, 1920
