Ignoble Life (+1)

We live in the shadows of your cursed survival

 not being killed when so many of you were

the endless rows of benighted headstones

telling of memories never to be

where you wander among them

pledging your heart to what unrequited

condemns you to time

we walk together through years of separation

the voices of the dead confirming

the tryst of our silence

 forever pretending that a lyric

can be written after the music stops

that its words can be sung by the Angel guardians

of those long departed

and ignoring my devotion

you embrace the rejection of  

the one who never loved you back…

the paramour who condemns you to live in misery

and to live with me

—jilted by death

(Watching ‘Hemingway’ On PBS: April, 2021)

Last Chamber Empty

Illusion to who

or better to whom

the window opens shut

An image ingrained

 often betrays

a rose that’s long been plucked

The sun in the moonlight

darkness to burn

a promise made to none

Glory unproud

 its victory profane

—the truth an empty gun

(The New Room: April, 2021)