Australian Winter [poem]

10/24/2022

Maybe I'd have an easier
time moving on if the land
we grew up on was
laid to rest and buried under
snow but all I get is leaves and
after all we spilled it's just not
enough to cover the streams of
blood deep enough for a baptism
that run through the crust of
my earth all around your
neighbourhood which I only see
when my bus passes it.

When the summer comes I'll
be on my hands and knees
in prayer at the well where
all the blood is seeping from and
I'll wait for it to turn to vapour so
I can inhale as much as I can to
hold on to what's left of our last
moments together because why
hold back when you're already
inseparable from my identity
and I just wish I could return to
the temple that is your
messy bedroom floor.

We both swore we would be
acolytes to our own faith to
our own fate but now you'll
never see me do the things
that would make you proud
and who's supposed to tell me
that it's okay to be upset now
because it could never be me
and I know if I told you
how much I needed you
you'd tell me I'd need to
learn independence and
you'd be right but god
I miss your bedroom it
was as quiet as a church and
we were safe there.

But now I lay alone and
who can say how long it's been
since we last spoke because
it feels like two year and it hasn't
even been one and maybe if
it snowed here I could
remember easier or maybe I
would let it bury me and I could
forget you at last but instead
I lay on the dirt that was here
last winter and the winter before
that person tore us apart and
I hope you know that I still
pray for you.

© schepper wubs