Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Roger Humes


Distracted

Distracted you failed to notice
the changing of the seasons
or the portents the wind did omen
or the wearied moments lost
when you forgot I was there
waiting patiently across the table.


Isolation No. 1

Frequently I write of intimacy
because I am attracted by
what I lack and by what best
diverts me from the recognition
that I always confused misfortune
to be the form of kindness I most desired.


Obedience School

Love is a dog rummaging
through the garbage under
the sink: the brain is aware
punishment is inevitable but
cannot resist the imperatives
demanded by the stomach.


A Certain Comfort

There is a certain comfort
one finds when the experience
of discomfort
becomes expertise.
Now I understand why
my father would chain-smoke
at 2:30 in the morning
while staring at the remainder
of what his life could have been.


Legal Tender

Every life has a price:

for some it is love, for some it is death

for all there is a cash register of regrets
where they hoard the legal tender
of the mistakes of their existence.
Sometimes I pretend your words
Sometimes I pretend your words
were composed for me
so that in the evening
there is someone else
to join my conversation
while I listen for the postman
to deliver those letters
you have never written

1 comment:

Roswila said...

"A Certain Comfort" really captured for me an experience I've had since being in retirement a couple of years... should I admit that? :-)