"Sanctum"

Sanctum

 

She was meticulous
in her housework,
every task precise
and thorough. 

Moving in a quiet,

rhythmic fashion,
she used the same
old cloth every week

to clean the cross on the wall,

the tops of the doorjambs,
the banister leading upstairs. 
She always saved

his room for last,

shaking out the linens,
dusting the furniture,
sweeping the floor. 

And then she would clean the closet,

always taking particular care with
every nook and cranny, clearing
out the bugs and the cobwebs,

doing her utmost, always,

to ensure that everything
was as it should be
for her son’s next visit.  

 

 

 

 

            ~~~

 

 

 

 

First published in Poem Magazine / May 2014

http://hlahsv.org/POEM

Echo   

 

That fourteen-year-old came to me again,

surprising me in the middle of endless tedium.
A familiar face. A well-known countenance.
She said little, as is her way,
walking with me throughout the day,
reminding me of all things known.

So little changes between fourteen and forty-one.

More similar than not, her steps matched my own,
parallel, corresponding, preparing,
but never quite intersecting.  

Designed to walk alongside,

a traveling mirror,
so all that is necessary is one quick glance,
to perceive the reverberation, to hear the echo.  

Destined to repeat,

each step becoming a mere recurrence,
a reappearance of the one who was,
ingrained and embedded,
on the parallel path,
the initial journey that never quite concludes.




                           ~~~

First published in Poem Magazine / May 2006

"Amity"

Amity

 

He awoke suffused with pleasure,
pillow wet, as were the sheets, 
with joy so great as to make him forget
not only the day but also the year,
as he rolled to his back, gazing upward,
clarity returning slowly
as he realized the view above him
was not from his dream. 

But peace remained throughout the morning

as he rose and went about his day,
not forcing the feeling,
but allowing it to slide forward
of its own accord,
bestowing a warmth
and a comfort
not of this world, 
but rather of the indelible memory
of one so deeply missed.




               ~~~

First published in Poem Magazine / May 2014

Subsequently published in Blue Moon Poetry / November 2014