my imaginary old man #1
 

this is a good place to begin from here
my imaginary old man appears
something beginning here in the event
beginning is such a thing for the old
man the doorway is a beginning the wood
porch and peeled paint the uneven rotted
steps the drive leading to the road rumbling
over the bridge following the river
past hills leaning into where the big sky
begins surely there is a beginning
something is perceived first as a shadow
then a bear then a small child then bear
the sky is perceived as the ocean then
a small redness
                           all that begins does so
in many ways which is to say that there
is no end to it which is to say that
when nothing happens he waits for it to
begin whatever it is that is beginning
we are getting closer some light falling
some hinge some door closing softly as if
for forever and again forever

Ryan Sharp holds an MFA in Writing from Pacific University. His poetry and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in several journals, including: Callaloo, Silk Road, Rio Grande Review, and PANK. He lives in Austin, TX, where he serves as the managing editor for Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review and teaches writing at Huston-Tillotson University.