That cliche', "absence makes the heart grow fonder," unfortunately is at least partially true. Not that love isn't always present, but in the comfort of closeness, it's easy to take relationships for granted. Most of my meaningful love poems have been written in the absence of Marci. The two below are no exception. The first was written during a writing "get-away" trip to visit my brother in Dallas. I had looked forward to it for months, but being away from Marci and the boys was no easy thing, even with the company of my brother, who has always been my mentor in the arts. The second was written the year I decided to take a job as an educational consultant that required me to travel twelve days and nights a month. I loved the work, the people, but as I quickly learned, no career is rewarding enough to warrant that much time away from home. My family handled it fine, but I was falling apart.
Without You
Here at the Dallas Zoo,
on this great writing get-away,
that anticipated peace
I longed for
--a week without our boys
and their noise--
has bloomed black,
cold,
rubbery,
a blossom of slick
oyster-like flesh
blocking the river-way
like a dead cow.
Sadness is deep,
moist,
rank,
rooted,
breaking apart the rock
that edges
the waterways
of me,
steve,
without you,
a little lost
boy.
© Steve Brown, 2004
Away
Full moon barefaced
in the brick night.
It's only October, Love,
and January is here.
CAFE austere white,
4:30 AM at the Anasazi Inn.
28 degrees, Love,
as I drive by.
Whaleback rock-thrust
hulking beyond.
It's jagged, Love
living this road.
Star blades.
Even the blue flames
of dawn
won't warm this heart
blown by business
from the tree--
a pit too cold
to rot.
© Steve Brown, 2008
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