Paul Groves
On Being Apart
Down the countless ages
the present is on view:
all the seers and sages,
all the queens and pages,
all the archimages...
but I am not with you.
Beatrice is with Dante
dining on Port-Salut,
walnuts, and Chianti
in something pretty scanty
decked with diamanté...
but I am not with you.
Hero is with Leander
– a sparkling rendezvous
of courteousness and candour,
balanced as goose and gander,
where Fate rewards him and her...
but I am not with you.
How goes it? is with Hello!
The greeting’s warm and true.
The bow is with the cello,
the cream is with the jello,
Abbott is with Costello...
but I am not with you.
Will gladness ever claim me?
Such aid is overdue.
Life seems distinctly samey
with little to enflame me –
glamorous or gamey
– as I am not with you.
Page(s) 75
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