beauty i saw today (because of you)

catching the snowy egret, webbed foot suspended as i ride by.
the way my neighbor's chin wobbles into his neck and trembles a field of newborn stubble.
the yuppie playing bocce ball at the new fortress of masculinity just off the bayou,
who greets me with the face of apology, who i immediately pity,
who i also hate, and i wonder.
were you ever a lesbian separatist?
did you have the time?
between poems and poems and not wanting to die?