rob mclennan (Ottawa, Canada): "Mark Cochrane's Dumbhead, Variation Three"

I am archivist, stuff for poems,
a birthmark of the moon—

this beautiful woman,

so delicious, went away,
went away,

lifting in a type of trace—
I cannot grieve

her little joke— secret symbols:
love, contentment, necessity,

lying body of betrayal,

limit to the world.

Whatever badges of cowardice
behind her,

the warmth of closing folds;
the peace that comes of entering

a tomb among foam,

in wait, the way a newborn
carries myth,

sympathetic blood of watching—

© rob mclennan 2006