To Governor’s Island
On the way to Governor’s Island,
We take the only transportation available, a ferry
It’s a noisy vessel, but it rides smooth
Over the gray waves of New York Harbor
Which crash between Manhattan and Long Island
At first, we sit together on a white metal bench,
Surrounded by children and lost tourists
My part-time muse thinks her former landlord
Is sitting on the deck above us,
I get up, but not to check if she’s there or not
We’re going to a poetry festival on the island,
Where I’ll read for the first time in years,
I need a chance to get into the part
And look romantic and windswept by myself,
Brooding at the vessel’s edge
Theater Mania Part Six
Theater mania continues
With special offers and deals
To join the fun
And fanaticism of the stage
What is the spectacle this time?
It doesn’t matter,
There is a show and a seat
Open for the taking
But I don’t want it,
And I don’t care how nice
The reviews are,
The program doesn’t fit my bill
I won’t go to the theater
And be a spectator,
Unless it’s my work or my body
Presented under the arch
OkCupid Date: Opening Maneuvers
The first in-person sentence should seek to create
a portrait of unapproachable beauty
the second should comment on the weather,
and allow two bodies in space to get closer,
so that two comfort zones might touch
Elements during this conversation phase
should invoke the comfortable and the exotic,
sentences that are equivalent
to polished necklaces, Persian rugs,
and wafts of opium hitting an experienced face
With the overlap achieved, further sentences
should bring down barriers and achieve
a free trade zone for elbow skin to meet elbow skin,
further talks and further drinks
may lead to the imperative, with suggestions
Ben Nardolilli currently lives in New York City. His work has appeared in Perigee Magazine, Red Fez, Danse Macabre, The 22 Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Elimae, fwriction, Inwood Indiana, Pear Noir, The Minetta Review, and Yes Poetry. He blogs at mirrorsponge.blogspot.com and is looking to publish a novel.
Academy of the Heart And Mind 