Bullet

the shield that stops
anything threatening
the sudden and dramatic end

barely an inch, some steel
hydro-packed, hollow point

stainless and cruel
such a lovely sudden pull
a heavy click
dropping into place with
such a simple gesture

silver and copper
so compact, so precise
to go out while watching you do your thing

and who is that
who’s there now, fingertips
soft touch, whispers
in the dark and precious

all that was and will never be
words mean so much, yet
so little

I’m here and all those memories, still
an evening drive, kudzu and dark
thick with cicadas and heavy air
damp, warm, so southern

tears, cheeks wet
and the whole hopeless wonder

dm
5 March 2013
v.1

Alphonso

I wonder sometimes
what debt I owe you, just to know
that she has someone, anyone

to take the edge off
or provide a simple shoulder

and then, I know
it's you that gets to feel the touch of her hand
and caress the small of her back

dm
18Jan2013
v.1

My dog’s final days

I listen to Abby describe the way in which she’ll leave
and I don’t really feel like it’s something I should be concerned about
the way in which she describes how she has so much to do
and how I’m a disappointment

I remember Jackson as a puppy and I think
I’ll always remember him that way
small, brown and so soft

and I constantly talk of him as if he were my son
sweet boy
left behind on that next journey

she came to me when I was edged on the precipice of change
and it’s been so long since then
habit forming

there isn’t really a day I don’t think about you
either one
and how it is that I’m such a bad person

I don’t care enough
or I’m not attentive enough
taking care of all those little details of living
something that’s stretched through since gretchen
maybe always

I really just want to have him under my foot again
that strange sad look
and rest his head on my leg

he always seemed happy to see me
and always wanted me to be there
asleep on my bed
and cradled in my arms

the only one who ever really got me
selfless and devoted
and I wasn’t there


I passed you off
left you to someone else
loving though they were

I wasn’t there at the end
and you were alone
scared and confused
old beyond the years

no familiar smell
no mother or siblings
just, maybe, the thought of me

and my absence.

d mcmanus
10/5/2012
v.1

Bullet

the shield that stops
anything threatening
the sudden and dramatic end

barely an inch, some steel
hydro-packed, hollow point

stainless and cruel
such a lovely sudden pull
a heavy click
dropping into place with
such a simple gesture

silver and copper
so compact, so precise
to go out while watching you do your thing

and who is that
who’s there now, fingertips
soft touch, whispers
in the dark and precious

all that was and will never be
words mean so much, yet
so little

I’m here and all those memories, still
an evening drive, kudzu and dark
thick with cicadas and heavy air
damp, warm, so southern

tears, cheeks wet
and the whole hopeless wonder

dm
5 March 2013
v.1