Post Card

We had never used the D-word
Other than to say we never would
Or to describe others
Not as steadfast as us
But there it was
As a worst case scenario
An exit strategy
Should something go
Terribly wrong
Should the hounds be released
The drooling scale-balancers
Sharpening their teeth
On Mont Blanc bones
With bow tie collars
Would she understand
If I fled the States
(that's what you call them when you're a leaping lamb)
(yes, all of them together; lumped, combined)
With enough to eat
(my own words)
And the deep loneliness
That only an artist would ever romanticize
Cherish
Curse
Protect
And what would my name be
To the sunburned tourists
And what would the locals
Say that I did
Would I just be Pepe
The guy who steers the tenders
Crows feet telling
An altogether different tale
Than the one on the brochure
That my wife might get
Anonymously
In the mail
--
5.2.08