Saturday, 26 February 2022

The Love You Take

 

The Love You Take

 

And in the end, there’s no mistake

a dozen gifts, returned

to him without receipt

is equal to the love you make.

 

Brought there by small unhappy feet

that staccato, on hard green tiling,

these objects that need filing,

into overstuffed desk drawer

under presents and pasts.

 

Some gold, rolled, small enough for ears

that need no given rings, 

gleam guilt without glistening,

when hearing is not listening.


 

The clock strikes half past caring,

so three friends come bearing

sanitizer, a half-emptied container,

because if she is no longer sane,

well, who could really blame her

hereafter? Some stifled laughter,

hand over the mouth just after,

because it’s serious all the same.

 

Offers money in balanced banking,

to give back, in given gift,

his love a final ranking,

but some music in her voice knocking,

all reeling heads and pity, mocking

the exit stage left, her final straw,

chest freezer dumped outside his door,

entrance in need of blocking.

 

Until, at last, his temper flashed,

impatience like snapping elastic,

he shouts: ‘so put them in the trash’,

as if some mistakes were made to last.

Later hears footsteps trip hard floor,

she comes in light fantastic,

returns for gold within his drawer.

 

But what about the love you take?

He writes beside an artificial lake,

unsure if palms are real or fake.

 

 


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