She took up too much room in his mind – Alice Munro
There it is again...one sentence... my life flies by
Do I list the women...do I tell stories...how many?
I know where to start...mother...years of stories
Dad, brother and I for ten years the men
Tell each other how silly, unreasonable she is
Poke fun, poke anger, us readers of the Times
She tells us to wear red ties – her favorite color
Why? Donald Trump wears them and he’s rich
Just one story, one crazy case of her logic
But our put-downs missed the point
Pretenders of macho intelligence
She got inside us when we weren’t looking
Shari, my first girl, after heavy petting
I blurt out, Mother would not approve
Letting me touch your breasts so much
Imagine me surprised that Shari’s upset
There’s the measure...anyone can hold you
When they’re around, but when they’re gone
Take Carly, former colleague - always there
A stranger wears her laugh, another her walk
My bachelor pad sink, the silver glow of it
The ghost of her reaching for a teacup
To see her ten years after the break-up
Wonder is my simple Hello, how are you?
Soft enough...loud enough...assured enough
Calm enough and when I leave, a doubt
No matter what I say, what I do
Knowing that it is... never enough
