Terry Gifford
Fondue Strings
A guitar strums
out of an attic window
and the sky is in its last,
palest blue of evening.
Everything has slowed
here in our sultry street.
I slop along
to post you a poem
about the alpinists
you’re not interested in.
Well, I thought maybe
just getting mail
would be good.
I wish I did not know
that beach restaurant
you rang me from,
that breeze off the sea
lifting your hair.
I have been hoovering
your hairs from my car
and thinking if
we were to part
I’d be finding those
long, thin strings
of fondue you can’t
break coming out
of my car seats forever.
The hoover has given up
with them completely
and so have I.
You say You’re not
very good on your own.
You call it
emotional dependence,
my wanting to
shorten the distance,
thinking of you
while cleaning the car,
while climbing in France,
even on a cold bivi
before a big summit day,
even whilst eating
the fondue of success,
and wanting to come home
early before you fly
for your sun-break.
Me, I still need
those fondue strings,
even to call them
love.
Page(s) 36-37
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