Poetry......JOE COFFEY                   Contents PAGE    4                             Previous Page          Next Page




Prayers for Light

lousy night to write about peace,
try to be faithful and trace hope
like a scar I or the reader will notice.
I pray for a burst of light to rejuvenate
a poem
now critically wounded.

Television violence, live feed of bombs
igniting Baghdad, ends my attempt.
Before me the darkest moments of night
how difficult it is to think at the end of my day
when the shapeless shadow of war covers their sun.

April, 2003 		For Maggie

On dark winter nights,
when silence was broken
only by the wind's aching
groan, I often rocked you in
my arms, selfishly
kissed you awake
to whisper hello and pledge
my love.

As you grew older,
I never minded stepping
over your collection of toys,
the web of clothing
on your bedroom floor
to watch you sleep,
gently entangled with
a favorite doll or book.

Today,
I encounter
the exquisite pain
and permanence
of seeing you grow
into a woman, proper
and prim, and realize
someday soon a young man,
stranger to your father,
will whisper hello, pledge
his love for you, and long
to kiss you awake.







Columbia is Lost

Oh, that we might right
what seems so very wrong
and piece back together
the streaking flames
in the Texas morning sky.

February, 2003