poet, interviewer, musician, traveler
Friday afternoon, outside our apartment
little guy:
fins on helmet
training wheels
at a certain age
those’ll get you
where you need to go
old guy:
baseball cap
walker
at a certain age
there’s no hurry
to get there
/ / /
Jason Crane
17 April 2020
Tucson AZ
hummingbird (midair)
stops to look at me, hovers
flies over the wall
might as well jump
red to dead, red to donor
black to donor, black to metal
a rare cold rain beating down
turn the key; nothing
he cleans pools, he says, drenched
turn it again; nothing
the Catholic in me apologizes
maybe if I put this here instead?
turn the key; life!
the rain, if anything, strengthens
/ / /
Jason Crane
18 March 2020
Tucson, AZ
ceiling fan spinning
we hear the neighbors’ dog bark
social distancing
Un dia en Tucson
A coyote, or maybe a chicken, calls into the nearness as the sky lightens in the puddles from last night’s rain. Half-tame dogs hunt among the cholla & saguaro in the shadow of the cross. Saint Anthony, pray for us. [South Tucson, El Super] Tapatío Doritos! El Indio: two tamales: shredded beef, enchilada style. Served with rice & silky smooth frijoles refritos. Driving back through Oro Valley to Catalina with leopard-print mountains out the passenger window & a rainbow in the rear view. Hey baby, ¿qué pasó?
/ / /
Jason Crane
12 February 2020
Catalina, Arizona
At night I think about my kids
Not just at night, of course, but it’s then
that two thousand miles feels like an un-
crossable gulf; a promise bent to breaking.
Two weeks after I move I’ll miss a birthday.
Two months later it’s graduation.
I can hear it in their mother’s voice:
“To Tucson?” she asks, even though she knows.
I’ll get back when I can. Bring them out
when they want to come & I can afford it.
This’ll feel better in the morning,
but it’ll never feel good.
/ / /
Jason Crane
27 January 2020
State College PA
The Chimichanga Kid
I’m wired and exhausted;
reading Anthony Bourdain
while I daydream about Tucson.
Right now all I want from life
is a carne seca chimichanga
— elegante style —
from El Charro.
Then, full and content,
we’ll hop on the scooter
to head out into the desert
so we can watch
the slow march of a storm
as it lays siege to the city.
T-shirts in February.
Same city, different partner.
Funny what a difference that makes.
(We – the first “we” – never watched
our wedding video. The second “we”
never made one.) I’m not afraid of
scorpions or tarantulas.
And I’ve been living in fear
of my fellow man long enough.
Hand me some fry bread.
Let’s roll!
/ / /
Jason Crane
15 January 2020
State College PA