the pain
in the legs
the ache
in the heart
the chill
in the bones
so far
so very far
from home
other writing
like some weary traveler
I am like some weary traveler
in a hotel room
lost between the shower and the ice machine
with plans to come home
for the holidays
we would have coffee
a candle flickers on the table
your hands play with your spoon
I watch you brush the hair from your forehead
loosen the scarf at your neck
your eyes look beyond me
to some future that almost was
and I fade from the table
stranded on some stretch of highway
a long way from home
in my head
I talk
and talk
to you
in my head
and wait
hoping
for an answer
on your shore
forever constant
my love
like waves
washes
on your shore
my only tool
kindness
is my only
tool
to loosen
the bonds
of your heart
in the early hours
in the early hours
of morning
before the call to prayer
you enter my dreams
and I wake
your phantom presence
next to me
a morning ritual
the aching
in my heart
one more link
there they are
in address books
on cell phones
scraps of paper
stuck between pages
of books
read long ago
names sometimes
attached
though often
on those scraps of paper
missing
or incomplete
and one is left
trying to remember
faces
personalities
quirks in speech
hesitating
as one often does
deleting
those old phone numbers
putting off
‘til another day
erasing one more link
to a life
from a line by Lu Yu
there the storm
a full gale
of trouble
oh how to glide
safely through
on this little boat
with arms not as strong
on the oars
but the heart
undaunted
identifying with Su Tung-p’o
often I wake
unsure of where exactly
I am
or the month the year
all blending into this
moment of sadness
only the cat
keeps me anchored
in today
on the passage of time
no use
looking
at the clock
hours
drag by
morning
nowhere
in sight
Leonard Durso 