Seattle bound— Copyright 1965-2008 by Dennis Gallagher —
Christmas
and what presents I’ve given myself
Lise gone.
Rose’s love broken.
Kathy confused.
My deep confidence revealed
to be as thin as my need
for their love.
Canada and overseas now seem
like nightmare departures.
The loss of Lise’s love
and Rose’s security
bay at empty moments
and my empty futures open up
and swallow me.
Away from a love
that could finally make me believe
in love.
And I’ve lost Rose and my family;
the cornerstones of my security
and the center of my home in this world.
My concentration broken …
my steps are faltering
I risk loosing my job …
Kathy and I touch hands, here now
over the same gulf that’s always been there
between us.
And I’m starting to feel swept away by events.
Lise found the one thread
which could unravel my life …
and left, holding it.
gallagher
23 dec 85
Archive for December, 1985
1985-12-23 Seattle bound
Monday, December 23rd, 19851985-12-23
Monday, December 23rd, 1985Lise— Copyright 1965-2008 by Dennis Gallagher —
December 23rd. I’m looking at a rock
on my desk, from Mexico.
Iron brown, lava, and dull.
I remember the sunlight as I picked it up;
Every sense and emotion hitting pleasure.
I look at it now …
like a poem written in passion;
it holds the feeling still.
Today, it’s gray outside … you’re in Mexico again.
And tomorrow my confusion and pain
will drive me to Seattle
to find shelter from these storms
you’ve unleashed in me.
gallagher
23 dec 85
1985-12-23
Monday, December 23rd, 1985I’m lost in a jungle of Karmic comebacks— Copyright 1965-2008 by Dennis Gallagher —
and pain.
Like multiple windows I watch and move through
several stories in these shattered months
of November and December …
Was I too weak, too strong, too honest or too
dishonest?
Am I reaping what I’ve sowed as punishment
or is God helping me to the freedom I need to grow?
I believe he wouldn’t give me more than I could handle
but I temper this with recognition of what
He thinks possible.
After all, He calls many of us to face our deaths
knowingly.
Nothing I have could escape Him if He wished it;
health, sanity, love, family … and life itself.
gallagher
23 Dec 85