we were madly in love
just long enough
for your voice
to haunt me
for the rest of
my life
Tag: Mythology
having twin teenagers with autism
is and will be
the greatest challenge of my life
if i survive this
i can whip anything
see
there are days when it’s hard to tell
who is screaming at you
the autism
or the 18 year old asshole
their teeth come out
bile and vomit spray the walls
over being asked to pick up their dirty socks
it is then i remember there is a tall bridge
perfect for giving up
right down the road from my house
and i think of what would happen
in my horrid wake
the abusive father the only one left
to care for them
the equivalent of throwing them to the wolves
romulus and remus made flesh
death is just another luxury a single mother can’t afford
besides
not loving them enough to stay alive…
that isn’t me
that’s what my father would do
you are the reason
the wright brothers took flight
you are the reason
the chicago & rock island railroad
dared to cross the mississippi
you are the reason henry ford
leaned over a drawing board
sketching models a to t
the gods knew
one day
we would require them
to carry you to me
you are the reason
daedalus fashioned
a pair of wings
you are the reason
icarus fell into the sea
all that remains of us
are dates to be forgotten
yellowed photographs
a carton of chesterfield regrets
and a few lingering
travel receipts
and
these little dead poems
he strolls in
to the gray paged light
of kaldi’s coffee & books
seeking my table
it’s an old haunt of mine
down on main street
that’s no longer there
i nod to him
noticing he looks
hawaiian shirt out of place
this far inland
as he sits
the waitress materializes
liberating a beer from the table
that spent it’s time there
wishing it were a bourbon
promises are made about eggplant lasagna
we hear edith piaf
off somewhere in the distance
agreeing with an accordion
my lips have his eyes transfixed
as i tell him,
“You’ve turned me into your Yoko.”
he cackles up the side of bookshelves
laughter finally reaching the tin tile ceiling
“Why can’t you be happy with that, darling?”
“Because, when I arrived, it was already broken.”
“But you must pay…”
the yellow beeswax candle
the only fire on the table between us
extinguishes itself in the iron holder
“You should be grateful, all my characters die at the end. Besides, you’re more Idi Amin than Lennon…”
i fell in love with him as we rehearsed for a play my sophomore year
he was so significant
i still remember his confirmation name
anthony
he wasn’t my first kiss
but he was my first love
the not-so-good catholic boy
with whom i first went all the way
he gave me my only claddagh ring
on a hillside in ault park
still kept in a mother of pearl box on the dresser
i have refused all the other hand held hearts
bearing crowns
that came after
it’s easier not to care for whom you wed
he was 18
i was 15
that’s three decades to a teen
we were beautiful together
his blaze of red hair and irish smile
looked lovely beside
my dark island queen
we worshipped each other
we made stupid choices
we made love in places that defied
our anatomy and physics classes
within a year our words had destroyed each other
we exist an unused marriage bed
our unborn children grateful
they never endured our divorce
as am i
but i don’t regret a moment of him
yes, i still remember his confirmation name…
Categories
as she departs greece
“This is all a parlor trick. You lovely statues are liars,” she whispers into cave vapors,
pressing her finger to the ear of the temple god made of earthly stone.
“Look at the lengths to which we humans will go in the act of assigning meaning to a world of happenstance.”
The deity has no response, nor would it ever, no matter what was said.
The sacred record player scratches vinyl to it’s death.
Lantern flames cease to dance.
She turns her back to the idol and the promise of a waiting heaven.
Her feet step to avoid the bones and rotting meat of sacrificial lambs who had come before her as she makes her way back to the entrance.
“We are nothing, we mean nothing, we are here for no good reason, and we are miraculous for it. The beauty and freedom of that is lost in all this fuss…this superstitious need for locusts, devils, and bloody rain.”
The deity maintains it’s silence.
She emerges into the light shouting, “Yeah, that’s what I thought you would say…”
Categories
well meaning neckties
he loved me perfectly
more completely
in one night
than all the others
with their combined efforts
overblown eight ball romances
egos
ivy league educations
wallets
fun house cocks
poorly tailored psychology
wearing cowboy boots
on a summer night in detroit
front men screaming at their drummers
and the sight of me walking away
over the decades of my
failed overtures
at making a life
all gods
whose constellations
have been burned from my sky
they’re all my favorite divorce
but not him
no, certainly not
he makes me regret all the lesser men
for whom i’ve bought
well meaning neckties
our castle walls
were made from orchids
and pillars of moonlight
marble statues carved with our names
in the courtyard
still
call to each other and weep
young lovers whisper
burn amber
making offerings
of olives and wine
composing poems
seated at our feet
shakespeare thought of us as he cast othello and desdemona
into the sea
red divinity spilled onto marriage bed sheets
storybooks
would come
to tell the world
we were lovelier
because we were doomed
i see the sad tale in your eyes
each lifetime
our fated lips meet