Madeleine Recall

You said to love myself

But you did not say how or why,

Nor did we always love each other well.

I woke this morning foundering

In a former mountain light and breeze

That bore a trace of you

From sentient points in earlier time,

A fleeting sense of loss regained

And somehow still consigned.

I only knew the laying on of hands and rings,

Extrinsic sadness, gifts, and acquisitions

Carbon-dating memories.

Woke again and knew you gone.

And at no loss for angry words,

Was too afraid to phone

And so began to write….

Bill Schubart, Fall 1993