{"id":3681,"date":"2019-08-04T23:37:41","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T23:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/?p=3681"},"modified":"2026-01-08T23:33:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T23:33:27","slug":"salvatore-difalco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/salvatore-difalco\/","title":{"rendered":"Salvatore Difalco"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a name=\"_Toc93381486\"><\/a>Sunflowers<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Too many eyes have drawn them out.<br \/>\nIf you weep before them, don\u2019t feel alone.<\/p>\n<p>A yellow that shouts, a yellow applied<br \/>\nwith a switchblade or a<em> lame \u00e0 cran d&#8217;arr\u00eat.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Follow no one. Let no one follow you.<br \/>\nFind a quiet hour. Find an hour, or two.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll feel alone.<br \/>\nDon\u2019t feel alone. Remember the universal.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone will feel alone.<br \/>\nEveryone has felt so.<\/p>\n<p>Let them come out. They will thud you.<br \/>\nThey will squeeze your heart.<\/p>\n<p>Remember the universal, the universe.<br \/>\nTheir place in it. Yours.<\/p>\n<p>Superseding sublime<br \/>\nthey brush the divine.<\/p>\n<h3>Wintering<\/h3>\n<p>Passing Canada geese in pewter skies,<br \/>\nunseen but heard clearly.<\/p>\n<p>Forecasted snow<br \/>\ncreates a dichotomy.<\/p>\n<p>This is north, not south.<br \/>\nWhat compelled them to stay?<\/p>\n<p>Namesake ties,<br \/>\na kinder, better cold.<\/p>\n<p>But these folks here<br \/>\nwear their feathers most likely.<\/p>\n<p>No winning anywhere<br \/>\nthe chimneys smoke.<\/p>\n<h3>Holding Pattern<\/h3>\n<p>The walk tests me each time.<br \/>\nThe uneven pavement, the steep hills.<br \/>\nI always work up a good sweat.<br \/>\nI stop at Arthur\u2019s flat for a beer.<br \/>\nHe\u2019s moving west this spring.<br \/>\n\u201cGot a cousin in Jasper,\u201d he says.<br \/>\n\u201cHe\u2019s gonna set me up there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nothing\u2019s holding him here.<br \/>\nArthur used to be the super<br \/>\nin my building but lost that gig<br \/>\nafter his heart attack. He\u2019s<br \/>\ndoing better now and probably<br \/>\nshouldn\u2019t be drinking beer.<br \/>\nNever know if it could be his last.<\/p>\n<p>But maybe because of that<br \/>\nhe should drink as many beers<\/p>\n<p>as he wants. And maybe one<br \/>\nof them will be his last,<br \/>\nbut it will taste delicious.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Nothing\u2019s holding him here\u2014<\/p>\n<p>and what\u2019s holding any of us<\/p>\n<p>to this particular point in time<\/p>\n<p>and space, besides gravity<\/p>\n<p>and maybe loyalty to someone<\/p>\n<p>or something, or love? Love<\/p>\n<p>can hold us. But you can crash<\/p>\n<p>letting go of it or being let go.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Time to finish my walk.<\/p>\n<p>I need the sweat, the release.<\/p>\n<p>I need to keep moving<\/p>\n<p>to stay my own crash.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I thank Arthur for the beer<\/p>\n<p>and hit the road. He promises<\/p>\n<p>to write or email from Jasper,<\/p>\n<p>but I would never hold him to it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Stories Always End<\/p>\n<p>A single light in the darkness<\/p>\n<p>triggers a dust-mote maelstrom.<\/p>\n<p>Love was in the air.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Now a war has begun.<\/p>\n<p>Fingers coil fingers.<\/p>\n<p>Both sides claim victimhood.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Each knows the role assigned<\/p>\n<p>at the start of the play.<\/p>\n<p>One holds an atlas, the other a knife.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A radio plays<\/p>\n<p><em>If You Could Read My Mind<\/em><\/p>\n<p>in the background.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The word <em>castle<\/em> creates<\/p>\n<p>a quiet space<\/p>\n<p>where the enemies reflect.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Chests heave,<\/p>\n<p>flesh gleams<\/p>\n<p>under the bare lightbulb.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>No one can read anyone\u2019s mind,<\/em><\/p>\n<p>the two conclude<\/p>\n<p>independently.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Worship<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The stained glass windows<\/p>\n<p>surrounding us exhaust the eyes.<\/p>\n<p>The sermon exceeds all<\/p>\n<p>expectations, shatters records<\/p>\n<p>kept in dank church vaults<\/p>\n<p>memorializing men of lung<\/p>\n<p>as we call them in this context.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Men of lung, filling up, nostrils<\/p>\n<p>black as horse-drawn hearses<\/p>\n<p>clopping over cobblestones,<\/p>\n<p>flaring to the graveyard, man<\/p>\n<p>the man goes on as such<\/p>\n<p>to stone another man seeking<\/p>\n<p>only comfort in the chapel.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Can the bored be redeemed?<\/p>\n<p>Nothing that a simple miracle<\/p>\n<p>wouldn\u2019t remedy right quick<\/p>\n<p>\u2014something loud as hell or maybe<\/p>\n<p>just a light show, or Jesus<\/p>\n<p>in the stained glass windows<\/p>\n<p>telling us where to go.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Sunflowers &nbsp; Too many eyes have drawn them out. If you weep before them, don\u2019t feel alone. A yellow that shouts, a yellow applied with a switchblade or a lame \u00e0 cran d&#8217;arr\u00eat. Follow no one. Let no one follow you. Find a quiet hour. Find an hour, or two. You\u2019ll feel alone. Don\u2019t feel alone. Remember the universal.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3681"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5284,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3681\/revisions\/5284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue28\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}