Namecalling Poem by Marilyn McIntyre

Nov 88Numbers

Last night you called me a miserable bitch

I dreamed of you then

Only fragments remain

Hazy flickering images that

I wish were to my advantage

Of course they’re not.

The pain of losing you is less than,

equal to, or greater than

the pain of being with you

Mathematics was never my strong point

But even I understand that

less than in relation to pain

becomes emotional rather than

rational mathematical numbers.Hungry

I don’t get anything from you

Lots to eat,

But never food for thought.Shadows

Grey gull shadows

Dancing on sun-washed walls

Free, unfettered

Of muscle and sinew

But the price of freedom is high

For the day must end.Phonebook

I leafed through my phonebook

Late one night

and realized there was no one

I could talk to

About nothing at all

all the pain, the indecision are mine

And mine alone.

No one is gripped in my agony

And how do I find words to express it

There are none

Only love and truth can soothe me

And these are illusory in my life

Reach out and touch me

Bring me back to some semblance

Let me find the love and the truth

Or must I be, alone.Alone

And so they sat

He and she

So in love

Yet so alone

Lonely.

The spoke great truths

About one another

Forgave in love

But held the hurt

Alone.

They lay naked

Side by side

Stripped of civilities

But they wouldn’t strip

Defences.

And so they moved

He to his

She to hers

Still held together by

Love.

Now he looks back

She ponders

He wonders

Living in grand style

Alone.

***