"nothing ever was, is, anyway"

www.thirtypoemsinthirtydays.com

in memory you stand

more perfect than

yesterday

here you come

years later

as I walk down the street

in dreams

snapshots of how

you used to be

and how we used

to fit together

you came at me

always

from a bit of

an angle

one hip higher

than the next

eyes that didn’t

quite know

how to work

with one another

your body walking

your mind around

you always made

sundays last forever

trying to be quiet

as your housemates

slept

back from the kitchen

with muffins and marmalade

the morning papers

your sisters letters

reading me poems

and turning

the sheets

you wrote me

a letter

after your sister died

you couldn’t

find a way

you said

to let me in

couldn’t

find a place

to fit in

my comfort

couldn’t

find a way

to let me in

I saw through

the grieving

it was us

that was

dying

we’d come

to a place

that was no longer

ours

we moved

to the comfort

place

the tears

and alone

place

the place

were friendship

begins and

where

lovers end

both knew

we’d someday

let it all

crash and burn

into the ash

and the killing

fire

too high too fast

to find

the long

way down

too high too fast

to find

the long

winding

slow way

down

knew that

we’d shift

pass silence

and separation

to old friends’ mode

collect-calls-from

husband’s-mode

secondhand stories

from mutual friends

from my window

I can see the street

I see your reflection

looking up

from the sidewalk

I see us finding

the long way

way down

I see us finding

the long slow

way down

in memory

you stand

more perfect than yesterday

nothing

this world

ever was

is

perfect

anyway

nothing

this world

ever was

is

perfect

anyway

nothing

this world

ever was

is

perfect

anyway.

*****************************
Aug. 29, 03:55:42 UTC
Lambertville, NJ
©2004, Angelo John Lewis
www.thirtypoemsinthirtydays.com
*****************************

This poem is from the ongoing project, Thirty Poems in Thirty Days.. To view the ongoing series, go to www.thirtypoemsinthirtydays.com. Feel free to clone this project. Or send topic suggestions or emails of support.

"see, make beauty every day"

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