K V Skene
Things I’m Too Familiar With
A quiet street
Footfalls? Shadows circle
as streetlights
throw dubious curves. Fists
jammed in my pockets,
a cat’s eyes
pleading and fierce. Tonight
is another country
full of lives I can't live anymore.
Look, I'm changing direction –
what is, is. As for what was,
only the odd car, indifferent cyclist,
feral cat
disturbs the dark flower of memory:
the angles of your body, the scent
of your torn T-shirt, the shoes
the cat pissed on, the pennies
dusting our dresser, your hairbrush,
that goddamn photograph, wedding ring,
overdue book
and the absurdity of abandoning
everything I've ever been careful for.
The drumbeat of your long stride
turns the corner
behind me
as the cat morphs into a trough
of city air - there is prey elsewhere
and I'm unmarrying you,
making things up:
black cat,
lover -
strange, yet familiar
like my life.
Not lost Not waiting to be found
until I want to.
Voices’ £8.00, Chqs ‘Central Books’ send to IDP)
Page(s) 38-9
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