Tangatopsus

To you who in the love of life draws
Me closer when I need it, laughs
A rainbow; upends my worry cart
Remembers glee, forgets pain
Worries long drives, fights nature
Takes my fish off the hook
Knows a face forever…
Live so you may give life
If that’s what makes you happy
The little purse you took to Natural
Bridge, so far from home
Expecting nothing
Getting that and not much more
Calm down about the pain
Catch your breath
Stop slapping your leg cursing
Ha, just kidding of course
Not that there is anything wrong
With not admitting anything’s wrong
I’ll hush on that…
We got big winter snows back then
And the story goes, you drove
Comets with mirror gear shifts
And let once-important cars
Roll to the bottom of the hill
Those are memories to cherish
Since survival is now certain
Daddy fried chicken for after-church
Round green peas on one side of the plate
Out there where the possum waited
A possum for a daddy
Not exactly fair trade
I want to know what it all looked like
What was said that does not get recalled
Ah but I can guess
Was it similar then to what it became later?
During those story-writing days
What did you talk about?
You were living stories not recalling them
Not sure
None of us are all that sure
Of who we once were
And what it was like
I can’t tell you much more
Of what my life has been like
Than I can yours
It doesn’t all run together
It just may not have happened
Or at least not the way we think
Did you ever walk down to the creek
With your daddy?
Did he ever stroke your hair
Or hand you a cracker
And hold your hand gently
As you took it?
Do you mind my asking?
Why am I so nosey?
Did you believe me when I told you I
Wanted to make the rest of your life better?
Did I even tell you that?
Marilyn Monroe curls of yellow
Easy connections for the locals to make
National star
Public spectacle
Local representation of beauty
Stand in for celebrity
No matter
They made you feel special
In love with your calm
For storms
As am I
Missy see yourself as sister
Protected, an emulator, not an emulatee
No role model for self-pity
No place for it anyway
It’s a matter of hunkering down
Listening to the rain on the porch


Loosely based on:
William Cullen Bryant’s Thanatopsis