"Mouth-to-Mouth"

by Jeph Johnson

 

with her
material things
drift away
in waterfalls
the same way
reason fell
years before
with another
-
I present to her
my possessions
one by one
and every third one
we toss into the water
-
I am a new person
beside her
yet must careen
the rapids alone
-
my sins and stains
cascade over the falls
as we carefully repel
hand in hand
to the bottom
to see if anything at all
is worth salvaging
in the serenity below
-
only memories survive
but sometimes
they are better left
battered and bruised
in a dead pool
reaching for
outstretched hands
than given
mouth-to-mouth
revision

Author's Notes/Comments: 

for Twilla, 2002 

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S74rW4rd's picture

The wisdom in this poem is profound, and the poem is beautiful.


Starward