Poems

I haven't written much here for a long time. Its difficult to talk about my life here directly, for various reasons, but I wrote a couple of poems this week, and I figure this is a good space to share them.

Nothing

Its amazing how empty empty can get.

You feel like you've experienced nothing before,

then you're out there your dog chasing your skidoo

and stop and take in a true blank canvas.

You're overwhelmed by that jagged tree line

with so many subtle shades of green,

which, in the past, passed for nothing.

Even in Saskatchewan that wheat field

you peed on with your dog—even that

was a thousand live shifting in the wind

along the rolling hills. Now you try

to picture an emptiness which will bring to life

this sea of snow, frozen in so many waves.

You try and try but come up with nothing.

Phone

The absent h in the "ello" when you answered

became to me the focal point of my day.

Recounting my day, while you ate an avocado sandwich

the details became alive for me

only when I shared them with your absence.

You were scared the first time you saw my face

When we advanced our relationship into video chat

and I became real to you.

I was not scared yet

not until just before we met.

I hadn't been afraid of flying for years

but when the plane started down the runway

I had that familiar twist in my gut

which said that things couldn't possibly work out.

Yet I landed, and when I landed there you were,

with a piece of foie gras

And I savored the experience

flesh melting in my mouth

I guess the common theme is the bittersweetness of solitude, or understanding only through negative space. Or perhaps you can tell me some theme I'm missing out on.