Memorial

I do not want to talk of him,

His shining eyes, his wicked smile.

I do not want to think of him,

The way we laughed and loved a while.

I do not want to meet with you,

Pretending it is all the same.

I do not want to hear of him,

I’m trying to forget his name.

I do not want to cry with you,

I have not cried with him all year.

I do not want to say goodbye,

To someone I once held so dear.

Parsnips

They are long and cream.

Taste of something else though.

Kinda parsnipy.

The Pigeon

The pigeon arrives

Flaps its wings

Pecks the ground

Steps forward

Steps back

Steps forward

Steps back

Steps back

Flaps

Leaves

Writing Out Shakespeare

I put a monkey in a room,

And it wrote out Shakespeare,

With a tiny typewriter,

And a pot of black tea.

There’s a monkey in the room,

Writing out Shakespeare,

Though it’s a little smarter

Than we want it to be.

Keep the monkey in the room,

So he can write Shakespeare,

And when we come back later,

He may ask us to leave.

The monkey’s left the room,

After he has written Shakespeare,

And now he’s doing monkey things,

Swinging from a tree.

His Socks

I pair His socks again

again

Stripe with Stripe, Brown with Brown

He has more socks than

any Decent Man should have

I pair His socks again

again

fold His pants, iron shirts

fold and pair and iron shirts

and then

tangled in twisted trouser legs

His sock

with no pair to pair

again

Lover

You left behind your lingering stare,

a crooked smile,

seductive and sweet.

The memory of hand held

tight. Tousled hair from

tousled night.

And then. More than memory.

The folded corner of my

favourite book.

The stain from when red wine was spilt.

And a chip on a vase

that wasn’t there before.

Meeting

Two different journeys intertwined

With passing sways and sorrys and goodbyes

They paused for a simple moment

Locked in lulls and gentle movement

A single laugh, a common moan

Rolled eyes, open smiles, and then on

They went their separate ways

She went left

He went left

And there they stayed.