Brooklyn College – Borderless

If Only… by SR Inciardi

IF ONLY

It’s those words in the smaller pairings that offer
imagined depth but inexact dimension with eyes
that cannot see newness in weakened light absent colour
words that can be read from the ashes
of what never was in a time escaping
into the dimming sunset: if only I could see my choices
replayed if only I could hold them
when the air was younger when they floated
on a gentle breeze and were touched by an earlier sunlight
when I knew what it was to be in the moment
and I was captured by words still to come. If only
they were here if only
the words I heard then continued to speak now.

Night Falling by SR Inciardi

NIGHT FALLING 

Now the changes have stopped and what it’s come to 
has settled in     a curtain masking as it spreads 
so what was at one time discernible is painted 
in thicker darkness.     At this point I see it will not reverse     
another day weathered     another string of moments 
shaded by insistence—soundless sketches of how real objects 
appear bloodless     stripped of their depth     blended 
with their variances. 

It’s not the daylight I miss     but the touch 
of what once stood before me     the comfort seeing it     
knowing it was there in the light     now both unreachable.
It’s the darkness that seems to hold the more natural light 
among the new air that’s turned cold shifting 
between two selves: one that knows 
what the daylight once gave and the other that knows 
when the light returns     each day will be different.

SR (Salvatore Richard) Inciardi was born in New York City and attended Brooklyn College and New York University. His poetry has appeared in USA and Europe in various online and print magazines including Green Ink Poetry, Harrow House Journal, Grey-Sparrow Journal, Written Tales,among others. He was a contributor to Green Ink Poetry’s Kennings: Equinox Collections: Autumn (2024, Amazon)

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International