Two Poems by Richard Schnap

Halfway House

They seem to come from nowhere
The men without shadows
Stricken with madnesses
That there are no names for
Longing for a reason
To let them forget themselves
A woman's passing smile
An unfiltered cigarette

Then they vanish in the wind
Like birds upon a tree
That stay for a season
Then lift their broken wings
And I wonder where they go
When the clock strikes midnight
If they simply disappear
Down a road that has no end



Faded Portraits

I look at the walls
And see tarnished pictures
Of long-lost friends

A musician strumming
A dusty guitar
In a room full of ghosts

An artist at an exhibit
Of his handmade mirrors
Of a vanished world

A writer whose stories
Depicted his dreams
In disappearing ink

And on stormy nights
When the window is open
They flutter in the wind

As if waving goodbye
Before each one leaves
Taking my heart with them

Richard Schnap is a poet, songwriter and collagist living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  His poems have most recently appeared locally, nationally and overseas in a variety of print and online publications.