If you wish
for a lighthouse
on a blue-green bay,

would the light
make your world
any brighter?

If the wrinkles
on your neck
increased ten-fold

would the noose
make the band
any tighter?

Why would you wear
the rope-soled shoes

when the bells toll
on the tollway?

If I called your bluff
to the edge of the cliff

would you leave me
when they call last call?

Frank William Finney is a poet from Massachusetts. He lived in Thailand from 1955 until 2020, where he taught at Thammasat University. His work has appeared in Cold Moon Journal, Noctivagant, Slipstream, and other places. His chapbook The Folding of the Wings is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in 2022.