Bones

From my shiny
curved plastic
seat of this booth
in the sun-sanctified
McDonalds on
Western Avenue
in Chicago, Illinois,
on a Friday morning,
I watch the black-hair
boy of three, full
of his blood and
eyes alive with the
eyes of his brother,
running chased,
laughing, in a
circle around the
floor of the diners —
some in some distant
desert place; others,
like me, watching,
and I know life is
suffering, a mournful
waltz of pain, even
as the boy looks into
my eyes, full of his
electric joy, and
seduces from my
aching bones a
smile at his bright
blast of light.

Patrick T. Reardon is the author of eight books, including Requiem for David, a poetry collection published in 2017 by Silver Birch Press, and Faith Stripped to Its Essence, a literary-religious commentary on Shusaku Endo’s Silence, the basis of the recent Martin Scorsese movie, published in 2016 by ACTA. Reardon worked for 32 years as a reporter with the Chicago Tribune, specializing in urban affairs, and is now writing a book about the untold story of the impact of the elevated railroad Loop on the stability and development of Chicago. His essays, book reviews and poetry have appeared frequently in American and European publications.