Something Shining Poems

Zeno's Lemur Isn't he the man with crimson socks and the slow loris climbing like the hour hand from his shoulder, over his ear and up to the pale dome of his head? The man's face shines with affection. He's an honest man and his pet, lackadaisical but not dispassionate, is devoted and clear about the nature of their relationship. There are times to eat and times to climb, the two things a loris is always in the act of. As the man turns, nearly in slow motion, the slow loris peers from behind his left ear and a smile begins to spread like a sunrise on his face. A word takes shape in his mouth as his hands reach into the air--reach out as the word moves forward, a word of arrival, recognition hovering before him. Daughter & Chair It's a sunny day in the middle of the year, My daughter in a new white dress suns herself in a very bright green beach chair. She's too young to sit there for long, just long enough to pursue a dream, a single longing: a sweet, a new toy. The sun is steady, late afternoon. She's an only child and we worry she's lonely, even when dressed up and dreaming. If we ask her she pretends not to hear and pulls at her reddish hair, looking off. If we ask again she'll say, Yes, lonesome. There's only the one sun and it shines in her eyes.Halpern, Daniel is the author of 'Something Shining Poems' with ISBN 9780375707209 and ISBN 0375707204.