John Halladay
A Passing Point
I am not really deserting my lover.
I park in a crescent by a disputed path
where we came, years before, and picnicked
where Kent begrudges into Sussex
and barbed wire overtakes
the hops and the poles and hawthorn.
I have left home on a strange day and
she is with me for the first time...
well, it might be for the first time ever.
'Why are you stopping in this dirty place,
such a litter-packed pocket of nothing?'
She's right, of course, I never noticed.
'Habit.'
'Habit?'
She asks,
'Didn't we stop here once,
the children, you and I?
Must be ages ago.'
It's dark. It's worse when it's light.
Headlights spy on our cheeks and I think,
mismatched memories are worse than light.
I'm used to stares and passing laughter.
I tell her, 'This is the place where,
after I have left you all again -
most times - I stop to cry.'
Half-daring I snuffle a question:
'If you could relive any day...?'
She stares. She murmurs, 'Any day?'
We...
Page(s) 128
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