As Soft As Hush
for P.A.

i.
when we were boys on our dad’s farm
when we had to go, we went in the bushes
we’d clean with leaves or with stones

an older cousin used to advise
my brother, Kevin and me

have I outgrown Ceddy’s wisdom

what would he have said
about a woman whose eyebrows meet

what is said about such women
about such persons

attached with latch, latch on a screen door
easy to close, as easy to open

our dog never barks, never bites
our door never bangs

ii.
no one touches me as gently
and at once as aggressively as she does

her ability to combine
such opposite dynamics
is an amazing gift, is a miracle almost

as if I were being touched physically
when all she uses is voice

connected intricately, emotionally
the moment I come into the store

such active interaction until I’m served
and reluctantly leave

able to interact and to connect like this
though she is married

as close as pups in a litter must feel
as close as squealing piglets
muddied, feeding

how they rub and bump and fall
against each other, frolic together

she and I have hardly ever actually touched
but how we connect, how we’re connected

while I’m shopping in the convenience store
as well as afterwards, as well as always

since we reunited,
away from Marlborough Antiques
where she worked and I shopped
for art and books

in the store where she works now
I go to buy bread and cheese
bananas, lemons and water
in 5 gallon bottles

with which I’d have to
across the street
struggle home


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2009
Begun 29.04.09 concluded 02.05.09