The Accident
The ambulance man said,
He was guillotined by fate,
And the truck-in-front’s iron bar.
But I was still holding
His severed head in my heart,
Where my children’s father had gone to prison;
Young lives wasted by a taxi driver
Following too close.
The still fresh trail of black rubber
That burned into my heart
Had left no blame,
They said.
As long as you had buckled up.
Oh, and the heavens unbuckle on Tuesday
To take his mortal soul.
But I knew that he had
Scattered his ashes
Forever across mine.
Triptych
Once our lovers’ conversation sparkled
Like foreign champagne in crystal glasses,
As we spoke of far flung stars and marvelled
At all the wonders our love surpasses.
Today, as we eat pizza, and swill cold beer,
I recall all that she had once adored.
Her favourite movies and sitting near
Now leaves her colder and our love more flawed.
So, at lunch she sits in the shade unaware
Of hard, stale sandwiches eaten by rote,
She tells her new love of her deepest cares:-
Murders in bars, and the inn keeper’s coat.
She has abandoned me for a steel quill,
A present I left on her window sill.
—
glasses of champagne
sparkle in the sun; a pen
left out in the rain
——-
Once our conversation sparkled
Like champagne in crystal glasses
As we spoke of far flung galaxies
And how deep was our love.
Today, she is even bored
When eating hot pizza,
Drinking cold beer,
And watching her favourite movies.
Now at lunch she sits in the shade
Blissfully unaware
Of her stale sandwiches of soft lettuce,
As she tells her new love of albatrosses
And murders on boats
And the inn keeper’s brand new coat.
She has abandoned me for
The pen
I bought her for Christmas.