January 2016
I am an Associate Professor of English at Erie Community College North in Buffalo, N.Y. I have 5 books, 2 chapbooks, and 1 CD of poetry. I am married to Maria Sebastian, a well-known singer/songwriter, and we perform our poetry and music together at many venues in the WNY area. For more information please visit my website: www.perrynicholas.com
A Wish by the Waterfall
inspired by Loren Keller’s "Marry Me Some Now"
I wish we might believe in marriage,
in content unaffected by form, resist
labeling it kiss of death, or whatever
it was you called it, sitting on a rock
here by the waterfall, watching
the limos and partiers roll in.
These are kids. They are foolish. We’re not.
But we want to imagine, like them,
even for this moment, we might
marry some, defy the odds,
some day and forever.
God Doesn't Mind (a Christmas anaphora)
God doesn’t seem to mind
dying before me, as the chill
drops off and my walks stretch
on longer. He’s not afraid.
And I’m not afraid of failing, not any more
than I am of losing my keys or stumbling over
the threshold to this dark restaurant.
Only warm place open on this night,
the only one beckoning a stranger
when every other haven is closed.
But this is not a manger; it’s not a barn.
And I’m not afraid, my friend. .
Measuring my life by doorways,
I beg him to explain why I’ve earned
such scars of self-scrutiny before he passes.
Maybe he’s a little afraid. It’s time
to open a new door; I’m not afraid.
©2016 Perry S. Nicholas