You Can't Go Home Once Again

Our meetings

have been

fleeting

these last

few years.

Words on a postcard

quick scripts

and a hiya

howdy

it's wonderful here

under palms

on this breezy beach

the taste of

juicy fruits tings

the tongue

is among

my favorite things.

 

I could sing

of moments

gatherings

meetings

notes rising

and falling

like a Berkshire vista

when the dying

is fine

and troubles melt

to a hot fudge

and whipped cream

goofiness

unctuous

excessive

keeping in the spirit

of the Fool.

 

And no one was keeping count

until

that dinner

when I thought you

Buddha

but encountered

Jabba The Hut

casting shadow

from your jiggly gut.

Who were you,

darkening me

with insult?            

Not Angel of remembrance

Not keep sake on abetting shelf

but Devil

defiled by time

clouding the past

with false memory.

Nothing is so perfect

as the lie we tell ourselves.

Times are sweeter

in picture books

or projected from

Beta Max cassette.

Let the viewer beware

but don't kick yourself for thinking

you can tame the present.

Teeth grow longer, claws much sharper.

The wolf, once cuddly pup, 

now chews through bone.