1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-8

We were

right in the middle of things

when the air went empty. I still

see your upraised arm, whip

at the ready…

The space you left behind

is still there, but you aren’t

in it. Haven’t been for years.

I keep pulling up short at your

reflection in a clean glass door

I forgot about. Sometimes you

brush a silk scarf across my wrist

in the back of your closet and

pour a cup of regret in my fog

while I stand still. The worst

are those head-on collisions

when you suddenly appear

all decked out in that annoying

yellow dress by our tree, I can’t

look away as you take aim

and shoot me with a forty-five

caliber sideways glance.

You left

too much behind, and what am

I supposed to do with it all?

Your collection of oriental

dishes take more room than

they are worth, clothes, jewelry,

art supplies, and a million other

things everyone tells me to sell,

or give away. I need a bulldozier

they are so heavy-laden with

memories of those decades we

battled through. Those times you

looked back over your shoulder

as you melted in my hands while

we made love on some temporary

island of time we stumbled across

because it was my birthday and

you thought,”Aw, what the hell.”

I’m keeping those blue towels

you hated, only because they made

you so angry; and those sunglasses

you bought to hide the glare

when you didn’t want me to know.

So here are my icebergs,

three things you taught me:

I’m too lazy without your lashes.

Nostalgia is a bitter punishment.

I miss you.

Reviews

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn..]

Vol,

I am not into Religion of any sort, but was a Preacher for some time ... Now, I Preach a different message ... That said, it is not difficult to sense the loss which this piece of Poetry speaks of straight from the heart, for, no matter what may have transpired, your words ooze the pain you felt in writing your heart to page ...

My wife divorced me once, and I married her twice ... I lost her for good on January 7th, 2022 to COVID ... So however your loss came to be, I do feel your pain, your sense of anger, and that hole in your heart shall never, ever, heal ...

Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham

[Vol]

I have a feeling "religion" is God's greatest regret...

[Vol]

Oh, and this was an honest report of events over a period of about twenty years... A record, as much as a lament.

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham]

Yes, that of an alleged personal and caring God, just sitting on his metaphorical laurels, and watch Human Beings suffer, and their lives go to s**t, while He/She/It remains untouched & unscathed, sorry m**********r that He/She/It is ... If there is, if there were, ever a WAR worth the fighting, worth the winning, and worth the waging, a War that will be the extermination of Man, Himself, for a just cause, it is, it shall be, must be, that of isolating and exterminating the Existence of that cold blooded, uncaring, unmerciful, piece of s**t excuse for a Creator, Himself, Herself, Itself as the Egomaniacal Narcissist that set pain, suffering, and death into our reality's motion of existence of suffering and enduring in experiences unquestionably unjust: F**K GOD! ... If I could manage to get my wrinkled, arthritis crippled hands around His, Her, It's piss poor excuse for a neck, I would beat and choke the living s**t out of that sadistic b*****d, b***h, sorry m**********r who took my wife's life whilst I was forced to watcher her suffocate to death ... Only good thing is, THERE IS NO GOD, but in the wishful thinking, hoping, imagining minds of men, who then use their moments of desperation as means to control, rule over, and enslave dumber f*****g men ... Am I pissed? ... You GODDAMN RIGHT I am! ... For me, for you, and for all Humanity that have suffered this blight upon our very existence, and that for no justifiable reason at all ...

Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham

[Vol]

Hmmm... that would be some sort of anthropomorphic God... I doubt anyone who stops to think at all believes God sits... on anything...

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham]

LOL! ... You are quite correct

[Miss Sharon]

(Sometimes you brush a silk scarf across my wrist in the back of your closet and pour a cup of regret in my fog while I stand still.) and the wonderful closure to this write...(I miss you.) Great poetry my friend! ~Sharon

[Lorry]

Keep them all Vol, is my unasked for opinion. They would never mean anything near enough to another what your good lady and yourself get or got out of them.
Even the dusting of all those nick knacks would be worth the memories and remembrances from out of the blue and even the frosty glares were a part of the person you miss so much.
You could box everything up and put them out of sight, but why do that when they are just fine where they are, playing your and hers mental jukebox as you pass.
If the memories are worth it, and by that I mean they don't hurt too much, leave them where they are.
She probably thinks the same or thereabouts, but would probably put it another way, by insisting you would probably break them with your big sausage fingers, if my knowledge of those strange female types are anything to go by 😊

[Vol]

Lorry,
Kimberly was my wife of 20 years. She died five years ago from a stroke that resulted from blockages in both carotid arteries, The blockages had a dramatic effect on her personality, and she went from sweet and caring to quite a mean person. Finding out that was that happened to her attitudes was a great relief to me because she had me convinced I was doing everything wrong, but the Drs said they see it happen all tgeh time.

[Lorry]

Yes, the same thing happened to my dad and he became a bit of a moaner too. But as my mum said, correctly as it is turning out, that you would moan too if you had to take so many pills that you rattle when you walk. I can now play the maracas without using maracas. 😊

[Laz K.]

Reading this made me feel like I just had a conversation with a stranger in a bar. I listened attentively to the memories shared and, if I could, I'd say, "Thanks for sharing; next round is on me."

Ps
I don't drink alcohol, so it'd probably be water or fruit juice.

Really good write though...really is.

[Lorry]

Cheers Laz, and it will be, as we say in Scotland, a cheap round, as I don't drink either, mainly due to the doc telling me I can't drink anything carbonated and my drink of choice was either IPA, or dark rum and coke. Now the only thing I had left to drink that I liked was a little brandy in my coffee, but the damn doc even told me to cut the coffee out too.
I swear it would be easier just cutting our doctors, but they do have their worth... So I'm told 😊