We Take Leave of Our Senses Under Tents

We get buried under tents
in cemeteries, a sensible 

insurance send off,
throwing roses into a hole. 

At parking lot carnivals in June, 
I throw rings at 

impossible duck necks, 
tommy-gunning pop-up 

rubber gangsters all for a 
shot at the giant stuffed cod

you never wanted
...under a tent.

We got married under a tent.
Guests bit into 

crisp leviathan shrimp, and 
it was raining good luck rain,

so, our tent bet against 
the weather paid off.

We were carnal 
under a forest canopy

before we met, roaring and wild, we
kept the creatures up all night; 

Your awning was sort of a tent: 
striped in red and white over 

your upscale catering truck by 
the upscale curb, 

you saw me coming
before I saw you going.

And the rain is deranged and pelting
as we gather under tents 

throwing Kroger
roses into a hole.

I see them everywhere on my way
home from work in the hot summer,

the baking tents…bold, festive stripes
ripping across the melted 

asphalt lots, hawking
all kinds of hope and fervor,

And I am raptured by their retail
evangelism, and always

come home proudly
with that leather ottoman

on sale, drastically reduced,
the one you always hated, 

the one that nearly matched 
the living room couch, and still doesn’t.

But in my own defense, my dear,
my sweet gone dear, 

I had taken leave of my senses
for a moment, under a tent.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2020

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Bangalee Avatar
June 22, 2021 at 11:27 PM
no one is immortal; everyone has to leave this world permanently; death is very natural but unnatural to allow it for dearest one~ sad poem; I feel your expression
Rodrigues Avatar
December 19, 2020 at 2:06 PM
Tent-acles deep in this one. Sorry for your loss.
One Avatar
November 6, 2020 at 4:18 AM
This is such a sad poem... WE lose so much when someone dies, not just the person..
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