Melting Layer

I wish for the ice to fill the puddles
before walking onto the fragile layer.

Soon I am stepping slowly towards the frozen slate
wondering about what's below,
Searching for glitches, Underneath,
I feel the crunching ice run up my leg.
Tonight I will stay on its melting layer.

But for now I try to stay above what
this layer must be holding back,
the palms of my hands scraping as I grasp the surface.

Original poem

Billy Collins

Walking Across the Atlantic

I wait for the holiday crowd to clear the beach

before stepping onto the first wave.

Soon I am walking across the Atlantic

Thinking about Spain,

checking for whales, waterspouts.

I feel the water holding up my shifting weight.

Tonight I will sleep on its rocking surface.

But for now I try to Imagine what

this must look like to the fish below,

The bottoms of my feet appearing, disappearing.

Sinking Boats

Like ridding elephants in swamp lands
To slow and they sink
Towards a sea of upside down boats
And shores littered by alligators
Run towards daytime
Twisted attractions help to obscure reality
Uprooted trees twist into the night
Their roots reach for the sky
Colors drip from the rivers
And trickle into the earth
Absorb towards the boiling point
As it building up into explosive emotion
It settles as dawn awakens us

Walk Listen Leave

Leave with envy
Walk with pride
Who you are you cannot change
Scream to check your alive
Whisper to gain attention
Listen with your eyes
Understand with smell
Run towards your problems
Fall towards your death
Trip into reality
Fight into your heart
Wonder towards the edge
Give what you cannot
Help people without words

Sometimes

The street talks to me sometimes
He complains about the weight of the buildings
The way they make him stay in form
He does not like the way cars use him
Unable to speak back
Sighing under the feet of people
But the street can not move
Without the shift of buildings
He feels the weight that keeps
The street still
He says he smells the food
That he can not have
He hears the children play
But can not join
And sometimes he tells me
He wishes he were a building
Just for the air