ANTHONY LICCIONE

Dust from Diamond Cuts

A mulish man behind his money 
is like the moon behind the sun, 
a dead stone radiating off the flame- 
quarter of Lucifer, half of Satan.
 

copyright 2002 ANTHONY LICCIONE

D.B. COX
sometimes at night

"I'm a Vietnam veteran. I gave America my all, and the leaders of this government threw me and others away to rot in their VA hospitals…" – Ron Kovic

just after
the last light
has been doused,
& the holy meds
have rendered me
 
temporarily oblivious
to the pain,
& putrid
night-smells
of the ward,
 
i can feel
the void
that stretches
out from my body
in every direction;
 
360 degrees
of seclusion,
as dead
as a disconnected
phone.
 
& sometimes,
i reach blindly into
that coal-black
absence,
hoping 

my fingers
will brush
against
something
i can hold onto. 

maybe
a wayward angel,
who might
allow a little
unaccustomed mercy,

 & lift me
above
these broken places;
back to the days
& faces, 

i hadn't even known
i'd loved.

copyright 2002 D.B. COX