December 2018
Perry S. Nicholas
perrynicholas53@aol.com​
I am a Professor of English at Erie Community College North in Buffalo, N.Y.  I have 5 books, 4 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

​WHAT WE LOVE
~ Inspired by Phil Terman’s What We Own ~

I followed you past tables in the bar
filled with old timers and fans
to the cool outdoors where we kissed,
and we loved that.
 
And we loved it when we shared stories
of our pasts, though some of it
stung as we read the faded notes
in the margins of worn pages.
 
I told you about the ‘50s
and what it was like to grow up
in the most conservative decade
of cars, driveways, and immigrants,
 
the ‘60s and the beginning of assassinations,
and you came back with the ‘70s--
cab drivers, babysitting, and family
nothing like who we needed to love,             
 
the ‘80s and Journey and The Stray Cats.
We read the same classic novels,
as curriculum doesn’t change much,
returned to the playlist whenever songs
 
were deemed good, and we loved that.
There is a crack, a crack in everything--
that's how the light gets in. 
Lines we loved to pretend to understand.
 
We wound together tighter than tight,
waded through a world of fake friends,
poetry, flower boxes, and Woodstock.
Traded kids, lifestyles, and decades.
 
It’s like we couldn’t pull the plug on talk,
didn’t try or even want to.
And we’ll love all that, what we’ve loved— 
more and more and more.





PORTRAIT OF MY WIFE WRITING IN THE ART GALLERY CAFÉ


Rain splashes around the perimeter,
dripping down the glass frame of the café.  
 
The eye moves inward through the windows:
intent woman scribbling, crossing out words,
 
streaked hair and jewelry shifting on wrists.
Fine tune even further, zero in
 
on fingers writing on a pad,
brow tightening with every phrase.
 
Each new syllable another stroke.
The viewer resists reaching out,
 
pushing aside a curtain of thought
and one strand of white-blond hair,
 
places one hand over her free hand,
completing this perfectly-edged portrayal.  ​
©2018 Perry S. Nicholas
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