she turns sixty in las vegas

You were sixty years old
yesterday you were a vision
in the bath when I was
younger you chalked up
another defeat in the court
of memory you saw my ghost
parenthetically in the motion
that you filed you were still
seeking a transubstantiation
in the fall of yet another
year your justice girl scale
still balanced between "I
don't know" and "can't decide"
just like before a hundred
times you're sixty now a
skinny woman aging with a brand
new law degree and your ancient
memory is suppressed and
replaced by that need to
avoid the possiblity you were
wrong the pain accompanying
a sudden fit of anamnesis
the paper a virtual storm
of madness and desire the letters
the worms of careful half truths
laced together in a garment
you have worn these decades
now an irish custom mis-stating
your responsibilities until the
wake where you will wander
in the land between, avoiding
the truth that must be confronted
before you will return

it's an interesting story
there's no doubt
I appreciate that much of the error
was mine then
we had our role
given so many turns of the sun
ago and both of us have
flinched on many an occasion
this time though
it was you who failed
you who said you didn't care
didn't care

that's pretty much it.
now you lawyer up your caring
in a western courtroom pre-
tending the vinegar you
taste is wine

another year then
another dispensation
absolvo te

yeah that'll work
adieu princess