For blood grown thin
forty Fahrenheit is Siberia —

breezes suddenly blue
and brittle
shiver through citrus leaves —

a birdsong
bleak and offkey
chills our sense —

sunlight, pale and tentative,
shelters us from shade
where wisps of vapor
from our mouths recall
northern winter breath
thicker than cigarette smoke,
that reminds us:

Death owns a time share here
and watches,
dressed in warm-ups,
from his lanai.

©2006, Joseph Pacheco

Joseph Pacheco is a 76 year old Nuyorican, retired NYC school superintendent living on Sanibel Island, Florida. He began writing poetry at 70, was featured on NPR Morning Edition, in Latino USA and at the Cornelia Street Cafe with David Amram. He has published two books of poetry: The First of the Nuyoricans/Sailing to Sanibel and Alligator in the Sky.

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