Week 29

I remember when you told me,
"I don't need anyone
But I'm happy to share things with you,
Which is a bit mad
And disconcerting."

I found myself saying the same thing
To someone
Years later.
It was unexpected
When the words came out
And I saw you so clearly
Whispering them to me.

How long were you happy to share things with me for?
Are you happy now?
These are things I'll never know
But I'll enjoy the moments
That you appear through me
And through him.

Susanna

Nobody in the hospital
Could tell the age
Of the old woman who
Was called Susanna

I knew she spoke some English
And that she was an immigrant
Out of a little country
Trampled by armies

Because she had no visitors
I would stop by to see her
But she was always sleeping

All I could do
Was to get out her comb
And carefully untangle
The tangles in her hair

One day I was beside her
When she woke up
Opening small dark eyes
Of a surprising clearness

She looked at me and said
You want to know the truth?
I answered Yes

She said it’s something that
My mother told me

There’s not a single inch
Of our whole body
That the Lord does not love

She then went back to sleep.

Anne Porter

Week 28

I write poems in my dreams
I wake and forget them,
Forget what they are about.
And it is incredibly frustrating,
It hurts my heart
To lose the words
The thoughts
The feelings.
I try to remember when I wake
But the sounds
Of early morning croon in the air,
Silence is too delicate
And much too painful to bear.
I guess I'll lose my words in dreams
And spend the rest of my life
Chasing them down.