Member Poem

Had you stayed,
you would have been delighted
with everything I had brought
that day – I had rushed back
in my blue Cadillac.

I had forgone those cheap souvenirs
from beach front shops and instead bought
one hundred grooved seashells and
Shiny coloured rocks – two dozen stars
from those long evening thinking about you –
Tints of the night on my skin from moonlit swims
and the songs of the sea in the shell of my ears –
I had stuffed all these treasures and more into my suitcase
when I drove back to you –
But…. You were already gone by then.

You had planned your retreat long before
Sending me away – to recharge –
to give you enough time…

You had managed to erase every bit
of your shadows from my canvas so perfectly that
Sometimes, I believe you were almost a figment
of my dreams –
Sometimes, I walk around, derelict in my own home –
Sometimes, I forget to be mad at you –
Sometimes, I blame that danged cat
that crossed my path that day as I was rushing back to you.