to keep & to cherish (from this day forward)

He says No.

Not to, impossible to go. It’s all a matter of practicality.

Who can argue with his convenient logic.

No matter that it is inconvenient for me –

that it leaves me here, heart heavy as a stone.

It sinks slow to the dark silt of the Charles –

the chalky white oyster beds of that hold –

they tentatively bear the city – white dust landfill

after a good rain you can find them in the park –

muddied, pearled, ancient,

those Brahmin brownstones, no matter how well-appointed –

these are not immune - they're sinking too.

Nor the great church at the base of Beacon Hill –

it rests on great wooden pilings that dip straight to the river.

Each night the sexton must check the water level –

seeking evidence of rot, but so what?

In the Public Garden splash big fish, small pond.

Such ill-mannered but self-professed ladies

uniformed in their khaki Talbots, Burberry –

First divorce rich – life’s a bitch, hey,

mere hundreds of thousands, not millions.

All who live here from here.

Accents so blandly New England, flat –

a long-stretched aaah where they ought be an ‘r.’

Christ, what i'd give just to be in New York City .

To feel my feet hit the pavement of Madison and 70^th,

West 11^th and 6^th; the corner by the tea-shop,

my hears that hear an amalgam of accents.

Last time alone, the cabdriver, Haitian –

we spoke only French –

the night before I saw, before the dawn;

“If it rains tonight, a good omen?”

“Only tonight, only in the city… then good.”

“in the morning, not so good.”

I awoke in the dark to great claps of blue,

thunder that roared down wide avenues.

A good omen; I held it close; hope.

At the end of the day, hope is all we have.

He, that is you, you take that away.

Without even trying, you manage.

Oh that’s unfair; you probably does try.

Mark the map to cut me off at the pass.

Contrive to keep to keep to keep,

Tell me, Is this how we cherish.

You cut me off from all that I need.

I am practical, so then; I will stop needing.

Raze me and watch; I will not bleed.

You will never touch me again.