Outside the bar
& high as San Francisco
glowing behind the poet
like an Eastern halo
lit like a red moon
on only one lunar eclipse
is some kind of sign
of an evening noon
an imperative sight
primarily colored
beckoning one to live –
blues bar – yellow cab
red light – a pastel
plethora – each letter
an un-known distant star
each word a super-nova
bringing us the news
of a star-lit universe
worshiped in a church
whose ceiling is the night
where invisible acolytes
must carry their electric
candlesticks with ethereal
ease on nights like these
playing proverbial tricks
on eyes like these – like ours –
conducting a service
to these our forgotten hours.
—J.T. Whitehead ’87
Reprinted with permission from The Table of Elements, 2015, The Broadkill River Press. The Table of Elements was nominated for the 2015 National Book Award.