-beyond the backyard decks of summer-

                    1.

                    of the backyard decks of summer,

                    some are adjacent to swimming pools

                    but others overlook the landscape.
                    we have one of those.

                    come by for a cookout, why don'tcha.

                    ––we’ll play croquet and badminton, or two-hand-touch football

                    like the Kennedy’s of Hyannis Port.

                    now, Jackie’s long dead and Jack’s been shot in the head

                    on the never ending newsreel loops although the pace of its violence

                    has slowed somewhat with the passing of time.

                    2.

                    as still-frames go, I've always been most intrigued by the imagery of No. 312,

                    where the brain is jostled to be sure, but remains encased within the cranium.

                    in No. 312  she leans-in, cherry pink and apple-blossom white.

                    in No. 312 we're left waiting for the punchline.

                       "There's a signpost up ahead..."

                    3.

                   during a mid-winter afternoon as a far, far younger man,
                   retreating from the sea-silvered shale of the Newport coastline,

                   a Lincoln limousine approached slowly on the magnificent

                   winding avenue of Ocean Drive, and from the plushness of the Lincoln's

                   backseat, Janet Lee Auchincloss waved a gracious gloved hand

                   in greeting toward me, but––

                   by the time I could react her limo had passed into the greying distance

                   and from that moment to this day, I confess to a longing to have had the time

                   to return the greeting toward the mother of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy,

                   believing it would have been in some way gratifying for her to see,––

                   speaking to the passage of time.