« Owls and Ghosts »

A flat tire on an empty lot,

A glass of melted ice and blended Scotch,

Doesn’t one know when it’s over?

Why chase the night and chase a ghost,

When beds are calling and the buzz is gone ?

Why hunt shadows throughout the dark ?

We are the night owls and the early birds,

Who do not know when it’s over,

One thing and the other,

Born to be contrary.

« You look amazing ».

Thoughts and lines,

Unsaid.

I’d dive in these waters, but to what end?

She knows just how she looks,

And the value of half-hearted compliments,

Of insipid civilities shouted against the noise

To her maybe, then to the next.

They’re worth less than a kiss,

And those she knows where to find.

The amazing-looking, the great dancer,

The friendly and the despaired, the fun and the bored,

One by one they fade and disappear,

Highlighting what I’ve known from the start.

The ghost is gone.

Still I prowl the night and her absence,

As I said I would and know I must.

Walking in shadows, chasing shades,

I am become a ghost and miss my flesh.

(7 avril 2019)