I’m Delighted, My Young Avant-Garde Friend

I'm delighted, my young avant-garde friend,

to know Sumer is icumen in.

Let there be light, let there be infrastructure, amen.

New buildings create sky where there’s light to bend,

same as spirits are once skin.

I’m delighted, my young avant-garde friend.

What’s outside isn’t pretend.

Heartbreaks. Concussions. The housing supply is thin.

Let there be light, let there be infrastructure, amen.

The photography class is on the sidewalk again

living adventures in light where ceilings have been.

I’m delighted, my young avant-garde friend,

to read what you’ve written

about what you’ve seen and haven’t seen.

Let there be light, let there be infrastructure, amen.

New buildings create more sky than they apprehend.

Graveyards become parks where ceilings have been.

I’m delighted, my young avant-garde friend.

Let there be light, let there be infrastructure, amen.

Published by Cathexis Northwest Press, December 2021, along with a recording of me reading the poem.