Lament

 

The uneven ground brought 
the warm sun 

down
never saw it coming now 

another star 

gone
 
we keep moving on
 
shivers in the night and 

the temperature
spikes
hard on the heels of 

a memory
denied
 
we keep moving on
 
no one hears those 

bells but
you
the brain’s rejection 

of your
truth
 
but we keep moving on
 
the trick is to believe while 

straddling the
grief
jump in that shallow pile

of rust-colored
leaves
 
and keep moving on…

Inevitability

 

the ache that could not be ignored

the hurricane that gave way to the clean up

after the storm

what I tried to cork in a bottle and set adrift

to places unknown…

 

Stumbling

 

I am wondering

my footsteps crunching

punching through the frost

are you scared

are you lost

so am I

 

memory scraping

an outstretched hand humming

warmth from another time

did you believe

did you try

so did I

 

a tuneless buzz repeating

its pitiless reshaping of

the empty sounds inside

do you keep breathing

do you see meaning

evaporate in the 

sky

so will I

Anniversary

 

The huddle on the floor

where sympathy died

the last morning of our life

                not even jealousy could save me

you cried

cried

cried

and I

this decade weighed so heavy

salt kept me from drowning

two doors and now goodbye

goodbye

theft is nothing special but

compassion is a

lie

And then Covid came...

with the jagged spring snows

an acute reminder that nothing is

a promise 

all on its own

Gone

I am left waiting on the hill

shaking with knowledge of

lost connections

I am left on the pier with 

memories of the dead

their sorrow pointed toward

the horizon

Hindsight

Brutalized by

hope

and expectations

where have I been?

What I thought was a beginning

was the beginning of my

end