Wednesday, June 14, 2006

I'll have to wash dishes soon

I left
those last two cups of tea
untouched on the windowsill
where we placed them
unthinking, during conversation
as long as I decently could
before moving them, grudging
to a corner
of the kitchen table
then to the wide beach beside
the deep white enamel sink
feeling irrationally upset
when flotsam and spindrift
from subsequent lone meals
eaten in crashing silence
began to clutter round them;

I'll have to wash dishes soon,
remove last cooled traces of
your lips cupped around them,
hang them back on their hooks,
but for now, even overtaken
by a growing heap of crockery
I still pick them out at a glance.

6 comments:

DayDreamer said...

Very telling and moving. Beautifully written.

S.L. Corsua said...

This reminds me of the, shall we say, uncertainties of 'moving on'... ^_^ And might I add, the title is a work of genius.

Always a pleasure to spend time here. I do marvel at the poems you post quite regularly. Such a treat!

Cheers. ^_^

Anonymous said...

Amazing how much one tea cup can hold...

ether said...

I like the name of the poem, too.

I see what you mean, Coyote. Even though I love to wash the dishes, I see what you mean...

:)

4th Dwarf said...

If you ever have me over, I'll have coffee...

and I'll wash my cup after.

coyote said...

'dreamer: thanks!

soulless: ...and perhaps the equal uncertainties of 'hanging on'...

c: ...even when it's empty....

fingers:
"You must remember this
A dish is just a dish,
a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by..."

(with apologies to Herman Hupfeld
and the entire cast of Casablanca)

4th Dwarf: I appreciate that, Short Guy. I assume you'd prefer one of those little demitasses of espresso...?