A Poem is a Secret Shared by People: 5 x 5

A poem is a secret shared by people
Who have never met each other* 
Out there wet January snow’s falling
Stovetop homemade chicken broth simmering—
Would you like to share a secret?

I have been to the top of the mountain
Before they lopped it off to pit-mine coal
Here on Grant Street we pit-mine soul—
The penny-ante pin-wheel the Poet
Pilfered from a Parkway lawn’s been warped by rain & driven

By the drunk & dirty snow but’s it’s still spinning.
Here’s a secret I shouldn’t oughta tell—
Dylan says that then time will tell just who has fell &
Who’s been left behind when you go your way & I go mine—
So times not really on my side.

Hit the brakes hard & gas her into a
Rubber-burning four-wheel spin lovin’ the
Spin we’re in under that ol’ Black Magic—
Does life here have to be fucking tragic?
We need some Steely-Dan pretzel-logic.

A poem is a secret shared by people
Who have never met each other
Share secrets w/ me Sisters & Brothers—
Might we keep the aspidistra flying?
Secrets are truth while all-else is lying.

* Charle “Dusan” Simic 1938-2023

Orin Domenico is a poet living in Utica, New York. His latest volume is My Rap Sheet is Long (Black Rabbit Press).