New Years (1995)

a poem I wrote for my sister, Maridell, on New Years Eve, 1994.

On just another new year's eve,
my sister and I,
talk about god and psychics
on the phone.

From her end I hear her let out
a puff of smoke from the cigarette she's just
inhaled--her last for the year

And I take a sip of sweet red wine, while
the dog on my lap nuzzles her
cold wet nose under my hand
for just a little more love...

Alone, in the wee small hours
we wake to quiet ghosts that watch us sleep,
echoing voices of endless chatter.

But on the line we are together,
my sister and me,
on just another new years eve...