secondary memories

immoderate, barely mentioned
you pass in and out of those old dreams
always refusing to engage me
this life leaks from the balloon
hissing a bit as it goes

I see you were here last night
flipping through the old words
looking for what I cannot tell
that is certainly nothing new

so if you return
to these pages before my death
or your's maybe you'll tell
me what you were thinking
those many years ago

the cat's pissing in the other room
does he want something? is there
a point to these words? the moon rises
with a white face white as a viking
girl in the indecent morning

the sadness never leaves
my friend from those days called
this afternoon, on the road
in the carolinas
we laughed at what this might mean
he is kinder than he should be

there is a mercy in that