I found these two poems that I wrote almost exactly ten years ago, but never published. As we “Fall Back”, it seems like as good a day as any to share these. Ah, the nostalgia; I must have been in a melancholic state. It seems like a whole life time ago. As my poetry professor used to say, Onward!
Please leave comments below. Salamat/Thanks.
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Layover, Chicago O’Hare International Airport
© by Emily P. Lawsin
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I confess: walking
through airports, I always look
for you, wandering.
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Sometimes I spot you:
in a mother’s long embrace
of her son going off to college
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Sometimes I see you
in a young couple’s face: streams
of mascara kissing their nose
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Sometimes I feel you
in the tunnel breeze: that bridge
of ocean blue flickering, mimicking sky.
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Yesterday I followed you,
the scent of sunflower petals
and salty seeds drifting in the wind.
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Tonight I saw you,
in a moonlit corner of a terminal bar,
nursing a Tom Collins alone.
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Tomorrow I’ll find
you at your corner bookstore
reading The Celestine Prophecy,
leaving no energy for words.
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But right now, I set my watch back,
as Daylight Savings Time ends:
I wait
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For this delayed connection home.
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Sunday, October 26, 2003
to Detroit
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Father Time: Daylight Savings
© by Emily P. Lawsin
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her glassy eyes burn
stares down the eclipsed tunnel
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holding the ticking clock’s arms in her wrinkled hands,
remembering the crimson maple leaves and lady bugs
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that kissed their bare shoulders
like tears falling from the sky
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searching and finding more time
in the dusk of the arboretum.
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remembering now
the back of his un-starched shirt
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as he walked out the side door.
the crick in his neck
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as he balanced his brief case,
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the ring of keys on his belt loop not jangling,
despite his swift stride.
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he never looked back,
just left her sitting at their hilltop café
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to pay the bill.
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plastic honey bears empty and toppled
at their unstable table.
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each year she still sits there watching the time,
waiting for him to finish his rotten meal
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or at least leave the waitress a tip
so she can go home.
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Sunday, October 31, 2004
3:45 PM EST
Detroit
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