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Godspeed
(For Puppa, with love)
Never one for prayer, I wished us
Godspeed on the way to the airport
She said to me listlessly:
‘It’s someone else’s turn.’
I could have cracked in half
before the night was out
your sheets stripped, bed remade
freshly puffed pillows for the next
freshly lost mind…
another family starched
and hospital cornered
awaiting orders in the trenches
at dawn to storm the beachhead
the war already lost
Our ending their beginning
never one for prayer, I wished her
Godspeed at the gate
An empty pragmatism
found me at the rodeo as planned
one filthy boot upon the rail
in retrospect I chose my comfort zone
to take the call: charging stockhorses
the dust like dancing wraiths
the swelter of the last December eve
pooling at the small of my back
I dug the jangling phone
from my pocket to find her voice
sending you out of our lives
just in time for Auld Lang Syne
The flight an hour late for her goodbyes.
Never one for prayer, I wished you
Godspeed, throat tight
Standing there, my back to the crowd
I wanted to see you in the trees
up on the escarpment: So I did.
You smiled and I gave you a wave.
They say you kicked your sheets a little
before you died.
This useless minutiae days later
the shepherd of my tears
road-weary but finally home
a week long march across
the Nullarbor Plain
under pregnant skies
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