stomach growls, thomas moans, betty coughs
why would anyone use the word "bereft"?
it's time for a drink, sick of ads,
plenty of time to do nothing,
having friends over for dinner i could see it all
and excused myself for a little while
pain, a sore neck becoming pressure over the chest
and a chopin score i got for free on the internet
waits for me over the keyboard, at last,
yes, i am teaching myself to play the piano
dull, life is what you try to make of it, and you tell
me jack daniel died because of an ill-fated tantrum
spend a summer in halifax, nova scotia,
parents do weird stuff like this when ageing badly
but so am i, so is thomas but not betty, who at 32
looks more gorgeous than ever and i did kiss her lips
that day we dare not remember for friendship's sake,
like, yeah, why not again, but the kettle's whistling
i had it all for a while, a dog, some money,
a decent job, a girlfriend named allison
i'm getting old, i'm losing ground, i'm past
my bedtime and this smile you see is completely fake
josh douglass (Milbank, SD, 1975)
