Poems September 2013

I remember
Things that never happened
Love that never was
Adventures we never had

I remember
Stories I never told you
Kisses we never shared
Hands I never held

And in these new dark days
These awful day to days
These sprained heart times
I remember when you were never mine

As the clouds march in
Over a gray parking lot
On a lunch break
In a car
Waiting for the next leaves to drop
Down down down

Late at night and
Swerving around
In a car
Looking to capture
Trying to capture
That youth
Pulls into a bodega
For a Negro Modelo
And chips
And swilling it from a paper bag down by the bay
Sandwiched between
The stars and the crickets
"I've got out of tune violins to play my pity party, and mistakes as plentiful as stars, and still I've not done anything, and now I'm too tired to even wait"

They crawl around the house at night
Doing splendid things on the rugs
Holding court in tiny castles
Balls in pavilions
Fancy dress parties and casual smokers

Once my sister woke up
Watched them over the banister for hours
Then told her friends at school the next day
Who decided our parents were swingers

That hair of yours
Blows when it's windless out
Even inside you look breathless and breezy
Your walk down the stairs is jumping
Dancing while you stay still

Me - at my fastest I've the acceleration of
A mushroom

No wonder you can't possibly love me

The Shut-Ins walk on by
Like a silent family
Bystanders hazard
To guess:
What is wrong?
Where are these long tears from?

There's a tv flicker
Picture tube shot from being on constantly
Pace around
Just walk on by

Now we fall
Into a pattern we'll have
The rest of our lives
Sit on couches
Fighting through movies
The rest of our lives
You get hurt and I get mad
The kid grows up I'm no longer dad
But I still creep
Into your bedroom
Every night
Mess your hair
Pat your backside
Never switch on the light
Go, grow up, I'll just get old
That's the last thing you'll ever be told by me
Darling boy
Darling boy
Darling boy