For a month this empty space
\nhas tormented me,
\npulsing like a tell-tale heart
\nbeneath the floorboards.
\nI have conversed casually
\nin the evening with my bride,
\npassing calm comments
\non fashionable news items.
\nI have enjoyed company
\nand made pleasant conversation
\non unaccustomed subjects.
\nAll was well so far as they could discern;
\nbut, within, I was in agony.
\nThe first several days, in daylight
\nI barely noted its feeble whimpering,
\nbut that was a two-sided coin:
\nthe month was unseasonably
\ndry and sunny, so mild
\nthat I was able to lay out
\npleasant diversions and itineraries;
\nbut the nights magnified its protests
\nuntil I am living in its pounding drum:
\nI grind my ears under clenched fists:
\nthere is no possibility I can ignore
\nthe monster that has forged itself
\nof empty space and wasted potential.
\nIt howls and pleads, screams
\naccusation and want.
\nI can avoid it no longer;
\nits blood will not cool by flowing;
\nI must scotch the snake, not kill it;
\nI must write, and thrust home:
\nSO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I return to blogging after a month break; I will post poetry on Monday, Thursday, Saturday each week. Continue reading