in spite of

One star insists in spite of the lights, in
spite of sound multiplied to the threshold
of pain, in spite of climate control clawing
into heat six feet beyond an open door,

in spite of ocean paved for a shopping mall
coastal now by virtue of workers in service to
engineers determined to make land,
in spite of a television tall as

a house blasting edelweiss against rock
from a dozen bars, in spite of the city,
in spite of it all. It recalls promises
countless as stars, insists there are stars, insists

you can find north here even when you are sure
there is no way to sail but by dead reckoning.

poem © Steven Schroeder
image © Mary Ann O'Donnell

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