Looking for Paul Celan at
SFO domestic terminal
I find him
In a book

And I cherish the compassionate ones,
The courageous ones,
The foolish ones,
Who deep down within
Compass Books organisation
Chose to order John Felstiner’s biography.

If I am sad always when it rains,
And if yesterday was a day of remembering
Young ghosts,

Today is a day for six impossible things before boarding,
Because I’ll remember behind a poet’s shield
How a gale blows every January,
Growing weaker every year,
And when I am followed by ghosts whose features
Shine darker every year.

Let it be said that
In this blank space of passing bystanders
Someone thought about
What matters
Long enough for a passenger to notice.

Image credit : Mike Magnola