A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Monday 6 May 2013

The Day You Left The Cactus Was In Bloom

The day you left the cactus was in bloom.
I saw how objects stayed in the same place.
I met only myself in every room.

The day you left there was an empty space
In bed, at dining table, on settee.
No human form or ghost could I embrace

Now you were so unconscionably free,
The house dead as the plants I’d never tended,
Languishing in the conservatory,

My routine temporarily suspended
When you split the entity of you and me,
My gimcrack life so casually upended.

Do you rejoice now you're forever free
From moving objects from place to place
And watering plants in the conservatory?

I need something to fill this empty space.
I need something to fill this empty tomb.
For even of your ghost there is no trace,

Only my ghost and I in every room,
Dead plants, unmoving objects, even though
The day you left the cactus was in bloom.

4 comments:

Ruth said...

Lovely, Robert. This has the feel of a villanelle. The meter and rhyme are pleasing, and the repeated lines drive home the plight of this poor soul who feels "deserted." (left in a dry place)

Dick said...

Yes, form and content combine very effectively here, the pacing of the one serving the yearning and melancholy of the other.

Dominic Rivron said...

I like it and I, too, expected a villanelle. Nothing wrong with dashing expectations though!

The Solitary Walker said...

Thanks for your comments about this poem — Ruth, Dick and Dominic.