What I Do In Between the Words

The stock of the rifle is hand-selected walnut.
I polish it with a soft cloth and occasionally
use linseed oil.

I dust a porcelain lady
twice a week. She does not need my attention,
but I give it.

My Nikon needs to be taken out of its case,
otherwise it may turn into a
a blank memory.

At least once a fortnight.
I pick up a quartz crystal and sigh;
the sigh does not mean anything
unless you think ‘sighs’ mean anything.

When the black dog returns,
I drive out at night
with no aim or destination.
The 'dog'
(my camouflaged depression),
must be driven somewhere,
and left on the side of a highway.

These things I do are tramlines,
a navigability that gets me back
to a place where I can write
with no bull attached -
no one likes a fake sun.

These inconsequential acts
are rituals, observances that maintain
the safe-side of my mind
while words eat words
in the dark.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2021

Poem

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