a poem by michael nordenberg

Consistency  


The same frame
of light, stepping out the door—
the same dimmer square.
Ordering the same coffee
in the same cup.

Returning the day
to the outstretched sky,
the way it plucks
each day,  with small changes.

Let me change a little
I say to myself—and I believe
it to be true.

Praise, this lathering
photosynthesis. Praise, the unexpected
ways love can be given
when I find someone who reminds me
of who I was.

And if there’s nothing else,
let me unearth a kindness
that’s viable,
that I can walk away from.

It gives me what I was
unable to ask for,
and needed.





Michael Nordenberg is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College & New York University’s MFA Program. He was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, where he currently lives, works and writes.