TAKEOFF
The coffee bubbles on;
a DC-9 heads for O’Hare;
I have nothing to declare
except the seashell sound
of distant freeway cars, a
passing cargo train; mice
squeaking underneath the floor;
crows cawing at the unreceptive
snow; these words waiting to be
poured.
—from Rattle #11, Summer 1999
__________
Charles Owen Lawson: “I write mostly from loneliness, a way of reaching out from a life-long sense of isolation. I have tried other mediums (painting, music, etc.), but I simply lacked the skill.”
