Visiting Keith
VISITING KEITH
this is the graveyard
where i have to come
to visit you
after they planted
you like a weed
(six feet down).
every spring i come and wait
for you to spout up.
it's been twenty years.
you would think
(wouldn't you?) that i'd give up,
tired of waiting, tired
of sitting here, leaning back
against your stone
back aching
(heart breaking).
i have traced your name
so many times in the dirt
hoping to see your face
pop through. i am willing
and able
to wipe away
the crust from your eyes
so i can see you
and you can see me.
i miss you. but i am tired
of sitting here, missing
the thrills, the pills,
the chills of the eternity
we spent together.
i am so tired of waiting
to see your face
spout up i dig my heels
into the soil and exclaim:
start over! start over!
(stay down!) i am done.
you can scratch and dig
all you want but you will not
cannot break through
(you cannot return).
keith, i would gladly dig you up
but we're supposed to believe
in miracles so here i sit
like a believer (of what?)
waiting for a friend
who will never return.
perhaps our sins were too great
to be forgiven
and the resurrection
is a cruel joke
and a broken heart
is really all god can offer.
keith, i do miss you
but after twenty years
if you do pop through
i will stomp my heels
and gladly send you back to hell.
Copyrighted
March 19, 2011
Copyright © Jim Brewer | Year Posted 2011
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