Thomas Locicero’s most recent poem to appear here was “Smiling in the Undertow” (September 2018). 

Out
By Thomas Locicero 

Do you see the arch of the odd blue moon
Circled by orange just hours before noon,
Jutting through clouds spreading out in a bloom
While you die in a bed in a love-filled room?

Do you see the child who the sunlight would spin,
Who, when no one was looking, swayed in your skin,
Who lived behind eyes closed tight by a hand,
Who coveted ghosts who delight in the wind?

Do you see the small boy who did not make sense,
Whose own father feared his adolescence
Would be swallowed by thoughts allowing him shame,
Bringing disgrace to the family name?

Do you see the young man with nothing to lose,
Except everything, and now who must choose
To dismiss his loved ones who declared him damned
And claimed oneness with One who never condemned?