For Frank

On the edge of a New Year

We stood on the water

On the edge of that pier

We waited

The ship slipped in

On fog dappled kitty paws

My ears are ringing;

The music was deafening

But dancable

Strange dark fingers

Fondle

Fur

"Mink?"

"No cat!"

Sends them skittering away.



Now the hearty lapping of water

Drums my inner ear

Like the anxious fingers on the coffee shop table top

Like the tinkle of the coffee cup

Creating creamy cyclones

Maddening.



And the chill

Two days before

I heard the click

The switch flipping

From off to on

From zero to one

A sharp line

In a blue sky says

Hail the vanquished hero

You survive

You return

Renewed

Resurrected

Ready for this cold baptism

This cold shelter

On the edge of this pier

At the dawn

Of a cold silent New Year.