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