Hugo Williams
An Anonymous Affair
We give animals their names as soon
As they are born. It makes them free.
Gives another cut at the umbilical cord.
We do this because we like them to be
People. One to be darker than the other
Or fleeter. It brings them nearer our world
Of individuals. Sometimes we act almost
As if they were our own tightly furled
Bundles. Names allow them humanity. Make us
Blood brothers. It was the first hint of a name
That started the rot in our affair.
Nothing else altered. Everything stayed the same:
The acceptance of a coincidence in her
Closed eyes. The understatements in her lips.
These were still there, idling on their
Corners. It was like a brimful saucer that tips
Up a knowing smile. But they were not questions
Needing any kind of answer or autograph.
They were more like statements of love. Ways
Of escape. And now we find that what we half
Dreaded has happened. We have become
Acquaintances with nothing in the world to say.
Members of families with relatives in the north.
People. Individuals. Each free to go his way.
Page(s) 41
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