A lake the size
of a small room
an island no bigger
than a single bed
when you set out in your boat
you’ve already arrived
to lie on your back
beneath a dazzling sun
so small you can blot it out
with one finger
(First published in Poetry Ireland Review)
I give, and I give
While expecting
Nothing in return,
But the moment I
Come requesting
A very small favor
All I get is silence,
The cold shoulder
From my so-called
Friends in alliance.
I know you owe me
Nothing, but I can’t
Help feeling utterly
Rejected, dejected,
And ultimately used.
You know that I would
Not treat you that way.
Hence, this lonesome
Letter from the abused.
Silently stepping out
Into this world each morning
In sleep-rumpled clothes and with
An expression intended to
Ward off all takers
A tiresome daily ritual
Unwanted but necessary
There exists a rather
Infinite sorrow that hangs
About outside
Like a toxic cloud in search
Of its own forever home
Enveloping crash values
I reject
We proceed to show ourselves
But only for a minute or two
Before retreating back
Into the tiny bricked up
Private havens we created
With bare hands now
Wrinkled from the sun
And distress
Mourning the loss of
Our naked heart companions
Forests of well-aged trees
Cherished books and
The spontaneity of a pure life
Lived through art
We await for our turn
To join our friends
More at https://www.taralynnhawk.com.
Time, spent like this, doesn’t weigh heavily, weighs
almost nothing at all, fills in, fills up, follows a set
schedule, offers some diversion, endless game shows,
some cooking, and home improvement, reruns of
reruns, comedies we know well enough to recall
the lines and old police shows smacking of relevance
from ten, twenty years ago; we’ve come to this after
the years we were too busy to even know that this
exists, this world of filler, what some of us do all day
while the rest are away, it’s like a waiting room for
those of us waiting for time to pass, the day to end
it explains us, begins to define us, the lost, the ghosts
the shadows of our former selves, it knows us well
replaces friends and family and conversation, fills
in the silence that so easily grows all around us now.