Max Heinegg

As If Time Were Kind 

          a photograph by Janet Milhomme

Dancing outside, waves in the clouds
of evening, I see possession yet
in what must be returned. I know

to oblige what will cut in is graceful
but also falseness, unless there’s time
enough in the hours to abandon

the floor,  admire the curtain, take in
the musician mid his light standard, a lifetime
of practice to let technique go

unnoticed, a partner’s lock-step
so long familiar that anything less would be
jarring. How quickly we move from

hearing the night is young to knowing
there are only so many dances left
until the lights come on.

Max Heinegg is the author of Good Harbor, winner of the inaugural Paul Nemser Poetry Prize, forthcoming from Lily Poetry Press in March, 2022. He lives in Medford, MA with his family, and teaches high school English at Medford High School. He is also a singer-songwriter whose records can be heard at www.maxheinegg.com