The endless chores
cultivated
elbow-wax,
kneeling
to spread the water
across the floors
sponge in one hand
wine glass in the other
tuck-pointing
the stone farm house’s
crumbling wall, repairs, pointless
accusations, the Hondra
I brought "because
I had one"
half our years together
on all fours
sanding the floor boards flat
to the bay window . where a bat entered,
drifted the rounded corner to cross you
his stubby head flattened . a last fling,
you sed, tennis racket in hand
the cat gone crazy was dangerous
bouncing off the ceiling, left to me,
slipping the towel in which,
pressing down, you were to hold him, paws trapped
beneath him, a hop & a jump, swinging
'round at the ceiling, claws to burrow
back arched, as you fled, the broom in the corner
in reach, a good hit
for one who rarely clipped a fast ball
spring's first passes
monk's heads & sumac
hemmed in by wildflowers
for you the telltale
dappled petals
half-broken spidery lines
never half-finished, I
under limestone cliffs
your eyes allowed
their moment only
to identify. The vanity
of naming what flickered
passed me, specks
of stars in cold grass, the big trees
displaying moss,
by the river.
Taste &
knowledge the
weapons of
choice: Carl, let's keep
on, notice it grows
in shade, what lives in shade? Tell me
o what? Mistress
of a Montessori school
my daughter at 6
was wise to you.
Taste, a lamp skin coat, a
Sawyer,
no dishes in cuboards
but Bruska, & I loved you
for the vanity you reenforced
in choosing me.
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