Dear Ammiel

by Kara Pernicano

You did something so funny
tonight and I don’t know if I should say:

What a curious start!

“Where am I?”
Did you say?

At first, I thought THIS
is The Act!

But then I’m like in my head,
Ammiel, you’re
on Zoom, don’t you know?
It’s just good-old Zoom again,

of course! Where are you?

I guess you may not
know we give a damn.

Oh and then you say, “I don’t see
where I am”—

Aw yes
the pleasure to see—

Why must we
see ourselves
to be seen?

I saw you all the while
and boy
what a fantastic actor you
be/becoming
there dear

Ammiel Alcalay dashes
onto the digital
stage ready
to scream (or whisper):
where <dear godforsaken children of ghosts>

AM
Iiiiiiiyyyye?
Ay-ay-ay!

Ammiel Alcalay, you have
me but a second and my eyes
jumped to see and nearly shut my inner refractor

down
all to hang
in where we all
obviously cannot be and all are
waiting, staring up and down

your befluttered
shock—the picture
of your wispy hair gone,

grief a burden all
refracted us
in your wild mind’s eye